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BY 


BERTHA M. TERRILL, A. M. 

PROFESSOR OF HOME ECONOMICS IN THE UNIVERSITY 

OF VERMONT 

AUTHOR OF U. S. GOVERNMENT BULLETINS 




CHICAGO 

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS 

igio 












r 



COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY 

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOUSEHOLD ECONOMICS 
COPYRIGHT, 1906, 19IO, BY 
HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION 

Entered afStationers Hall, London 
All Rights Reserved 



©CI.A273882 


CONTENTS 


Letter to Students ... y 

Economics ....... i 

Housekeeping a Profession .... 5 

Home Expenditures ..... 9 

Dr. Engel’s Laws ...... 19 

Rent ........ 21 

Operating Expenses . . . . . .26 

Food ........ 30 

Clothing . . . . . . . 36 

Higher Life . . . . . . . 37 

Household Accounts . . . . . .42 

Bank Account ...... 60 

Organization and Division of Labor . . 71 

Domestic Service ...... 77 

Buying Supplies . . . . . .97 

Kitchen Furnishings . . . . 110 

Table and Bed Linen ..... 114 

Carpets and Rugs ...... 122 

Marketing ........ 127 

Beef ........ 129 

Veal ......... 146 

•Mutton and Lamb . . . . . 148 

Pork ...... . . 150 

Poultry . . . . . . .151 

Fish ......... 153 

Vegetables ....... 156 

Animal Products ...... 159 

Dry Groceries . . . . . . * 161 

Bibliography ....... 163 

Supplement ....... 167 

Laundry Work . . . . . . . 168 


in 




IV 


CONTENTS 


Division of Income 

168 

Food Economy 

• • • • 1 7 5 

Domestic Service 

. . . . 181 

Help by the Hour 

. 184 

Systems of Work . 

. . 188 

Value of the Individual Home . . . 190 

Purchasing 

191 

Thrift . 

. i 93 

Kitchen Utensils 

194 

Directory of Goods 

. 196 

A Good Housekeeper 

. ’ . 197 

Program for Supplemental 

Study . . .201 

Co-operative Housekeeping, 

Topical Outline, by 

Mrs. Mary Hinman Abel 

. 204 

Index .... 

. . . . 207 


AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS 
CHICAGO 


January 1, 1907. 


My dear Madam: 


A large number of subjects 
must necessarily be considered under so broad 
a head as Household Management. It is impossi¬ 
ble to treat all exhaustively in these lessono. 
The attempt has been made to select the vitally 
important points to be emphasized and so to 
treat them as to make them suggestive and help¬ 
ful both in their application to your needs and 
in stimulating desire for further study and ex¬ 
periment. X 

Conditions for home-making differ so widely 
in different parts of the country that no two 
housekeepers have exactly the same problems, al¬ 
though general principles may be the same. Your 
most interesting study, if you make the lessons 
as helpful as may be, will be in testing and 
adapting the principles set forth according to 
your particular circumstances. 

One of the greatest charms about most suc¬ 
cessful homes is their individuality, while one 
of the things to be deeply regretted is the 
tendency of many women towards imitation regard 
less of whether the thipg imitated is fitted to 
their standard of life or not. 

The purpose of our lessons is to make such 
suggestions as may be helpful to you in working 
out your individual problems more successfully 
in the light of others experience, rather than 
to state any fast-bound rules to which one must 
conform to succeed. 

There is a great scarcity of available ma¬ 
terial from which to draw. It is my hope that 



r 


our study together will stimulate questions and 
such a sharing of experience that many valuable 
contributions may be made for the benefit of 
future seekers after help. Please do not con¬ 
sider any experience too trivial to report which 
has led to more successful management in your 
own home or those of your friends. 

I shall be glad to hear from you upon any 
thing suggested by the lessons and will gladly 
do all I can to supply any further information 
desired. 


Sincerely yours. 



Instructor 




r 


\ 

Home Economics 

STANDS FOR 

The ideal home life for today unham¬ 
pered by the traditions of the paSt. 

The utilization of the resources of mod¬ 
ern science to improve the home life. 

The freedom of the home from the 

# 

dominance of things and their due 
subordination to ideals. 

The simplicity in material surroundings 
which will moSt free the spirit for the 
more important and permanent inter¬ 
ests of the home and of society. 







HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


| N THE study of Economics there are two great 
divisions—production and consumption. Until 
within a few years, by far the lion’s share of time and 
study has been given to the first of these divisions. It 
has been deemed sufficient for the securing of happi¬ 
ness and prosperity to a people to point out how the 
greatest degree of efficiency in producing wealth might 
be obtained. The manner in which that wealth was 
expended was considered less important. Recently a 
decided change has taken place. A conviction has 
been growing, especially among students or economics, 
of the equal importance of the other division, which 
covers the use made of the money after it has been 
acquired. This emphasizes the important place of the 
home in Economics as will be realized by those who 
consider how largely the home is the center of the 
consumption of wealth. 

In former times the home was practically the entire 
economic world. Most of what was produced to meet 
the needs of the people originated there, while all of 
it found ready consumption within the family circle 
or by limited exchange. To-day the shop and factory 
have taken most of the productions and developed them 


Divisions 
in Economics 


Place of 
Home in 
Consumption 
of Wealth 



Economy 


S' 


2 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

one by one, into large industries outside the home, 
such as the manufacture of dress goods and cloth of 
all kinds, carpets, bedding, candles and soap; trades, 
such as tailoring, shoe-making and millinery, all hav¬ 
ing their origin in the home. The preparation of food 
is almost the only work left to the home which may 
be called creative, unless we include the supreme work 
of developing men and women. 

Yet with production passed practically out of the 
control of the home, we find the other branch of 
Economics, consumption, still chiefly confined there. 
Most of the wealth acquired outside is expended on 
either the home or the interests closely connected with 
it. Women thus become the main directors of these 
expenditures. It is generally conceded that most of 
them stand in great need of a better understanding 
of the importance of the work that is theirs, and of 
the principles which underlie all correct economy. 

Two aims are of equal importance in the practice 
of economy; (i) to increase the income, and (2) to 
diminish the expenditures. The last contains possi¬ 
bilities of comfort of quite as high order as the first. 
There are, according to Devine, “three methods by 
which general prosperity may be increased; a better 
choice, a better production, a better consumption. In 
comparing the relative importance of the three 
methods it will be found that there are greater imme¬ 
diate possibilities in the third (a better consumption) 
than in either of the others, and that of the two that 


ECONOMICS 


3 


remain, the first (a better choice) is more important 
than the second.”* 

In the light of all these facts it is a surprising thing 
that anyone can look lightly upon the share that is 
given to woman in the economic struggle. There 
are those who urge that the reason why women are 
finding the care of their homes less attractive than 
formerly is the fact that all which adds zest and is 
worth while is taken from them. Rather is it true that 
some things which demanded time and strength have 
yielded to more vital things, and there is now op¬ 
portunity to perfect that which is left, with a better 
appreciation of its importance. 

Devine further affirms that “it is the present duty 
oFthe economist to magnify the office of the wealth 
expender, to accompany her to the very threshold of 
the home, that he may point out, with untiring vig¬ 
ilance, its woeful defects, its emptiness, caused not 
so much by lack of income, as by lack of knowledge 
of how to spend wisely. There is no higher economic 
function than that of determining how wealth shall 
be used. Even if man remains the chief producer, and 
woman remains the chief factor in determining how 
wealth shall be used, the economic position of woman 
will not be considered by those who judge with dis¬ 
crimination, inferior to that of man. Both may in their 
respective positions contribute directly and powerfully 
to the advancement of general prosperity.” 


Economic 
Position 
of Woman 


Office 
of the 
Wealth 
Expender 


* Devine: Economic Function of Woman. 



r 


4 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Use of 
Money 


Business 
Side of 
Jiome-Making 


As women awaken to a realization of this truth, 
and bend their energy to acquire the knowledge and 
skill necessary to do their part more successfully, we 
shall begin to attain the degree of comfort and pros¬ 
perity possible for us to enjoy. There is far more 
money earned in the majority of families than is wisely 
spent. The .error is frequently careless expenditure, 
not sloth in acquiring, a misuse rather than lack of 
income. The old adage, “A penny saved is a penny 
earned,” should be daily before the housewife. She 
should weigh in a less vague and general way the 
saying that “one cannot have his money and spend it 
too. v Money has but a limited purchasing power: 
if it goes to gratify one desire, another must be denied. 
Few, very few, are able to satisfy all material desires. 
The mistake is made in giving too little thought to the 
various avenues of expenditure, the desire uppermost 
at the time being the one gratified, regardless of the 
relative importance of others. Combined with this 
are usually the failure to exercise foresight and the 
lack of sufficient knowledge of values to insure full 
money value for each outlay. “The woman who longs 
to get where she ‘won’t have to count every penny’ 
will never have her longing satisfied until she makes 
every penny count.”* 

As the economic importance of the home is more 
fully realized, the business side of home-making is 
emphasized. The home has a close and intimate rela- 


* Miss Richardson: The Woman Who Spends. 


HOUSEKEEPING A PROEESSION 


5 


tion to the business world in general. The house¬ 
wife in her customary purchases comes in touch with 
retail trade of almost every variety and adds her con¬ 
tribution. If she makes use of the bank as the'best 
medium of exchange, she shares in the interests of one 
of the large business enterprises. With a surplus to 
invest, she has to do with one or another branch of 
the business world in selecting the form of invest¬ 
ment, and in looking after the income from it. To 
conduct any and all of these interests in the most ef¬ 
ficient and successful manner requires as thorough 
training as for any other line of business. Only busi¬ 
ness-like methods can succeed. The reason why so 
many women fail at just this point is from a lack, in 
their early life and education, of the training which 
develops business ability. 

HOUSEKEEPING A PROFESSION 

Housekeeping ranks among the professions as truly 
as any other occupation. It is more than a trade, since 
one who works at a trade performs each day the task 
assigned, the work being planned and directed by 
another. Thus little of the worker’s energy is ex¬ 
pended in deciding his activities. It is the director 
who must possess and exercise the power to guide; 
his work being to initiate, plan and direct. This re¬ 
quires larger capacity and ability than is required of 
the one who merely practices a trade. 

It is the work of the housewife to initiate, plan 
and direct the business of the house. The woman 
who considers this work as the opportunity to assist 


Initiative 


Need of 
Education 


Estimation 
of Values 


Education 
of the 
Home-Maker 


r 


6 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

in sharing the responsibilities of the wage-earner, and 
in developing the powers of those making up the fam¬ 
ily, has grasped the truth concerning the possibilities of 
her work. 

There should be no more question as to the need of 
education and training for the woman who selects the 
food, clothing and works of art which minister to the 
highest welfare of a family than there is for the need 
of study on the part of the farmer, the manufacturer, 
or the artist who produces them. 

Everywhere training is showing its benefits in the 
greater efficiency and skill of those who take ad¬ 
vantage of it. Women will never be able to spend 
money so as to bring adequate results, until they 
have in some way acquired a broad training in the 
estimation of values. The word of the salesman is 
a poor guide, yet one who has had no training to aid 
her is unable to select for herself any more satis¬ 
factorily. Houses which are turned over to ‘"experts” 
are usually striking witnesses of abundant expendi¬ 
ture, but pitiably fail to convey to eye or heart the 
refreshing individuality or the satisfaction to be real¬ 
ized in the cultivated woman’s home. 

The fullest, most completely rounded education is 
none too good for one who is called upon to use and 
impart so varied information as is the housewife. The 
study of science is especially practical for one who 
aspires to master all the things that come within the 
range of her work. A knowledge of chemistry is 


HOUSEKEEPING A PROEESSION 


7 


necessary to an understanding of food composition, of 
cooking, cleaning, etc. The laws of physics are as 
closely related. For the mother, modern psychology 
is an indispensable study, if she is to understand her 
child, and wisely guide its development. If this 
knowledge may not be secured in school, a great deal 
may be done to supplement such training. Study in 
this course should do much along this line. 

In addition to the knowledge gained through study, 
there should be a liberal amount of practice in the 
various duties before one assumes the care of a house. 
Unfortunate the home where the practical experience 
all comes after marriage. It comes at the hardest 
of periods and is unjust to any man. In no busi¬ 
ness can failure be graver or the results more serious. 
The fact that some very efficient housekeepers have 
evolved from unpromising beginnings is no argument. 
Such are, without exception, most eager for their 
daughters to receive training, since they know by dear 
experience its value. 

Much of the present aversion to household duties 
would vanish before adequate preparation to perform 
them. The American Kitchen Magazine published, in 
January, 1901, some suggestions of leading men on 
the general subject of Housekeeping on a Business¬ 
like Basis. Some of their remarks are significant. 
One says : “Whenever one’s knowledge of a subject has 
passed the stage of drudgery and becomes a science, 
its performance immediately becomes a pleasure. The 
ability to do a thing in the highest known perfection, 


Practice 

Necessary 


Housekeeping 
on a 

Businesslike 

Basis 


8 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


A Right 
Spirit 


Training 

and 

Devotion 

Essential 


Business 

Principles 


or a little better than anyone else, is always a source 
of delight, and it matters little what that something 
is. This spirit imparts its influence to everyone in 
any way associated with the work. The men or 
women who know their business seldom have diffi¬ 
culty in keeping those under them happily employed. 

. . . . Wherever the circumstances of our life land 
us, we should make our stand, do our part of the 

world’s wqrk, and do it well.The woman who 

would have a home of her own and a happy one, 
should know, not only how to manage the chamber¬ 
maid, but the cook as well. The moment that either 
discovers that there is method on the part of their 
mistress and knowledge superior to their own, they 

will comply with her requests.There will be no 

trouble with the kitchen end of the house when women 
take the same pains to know their business as men do. 

“The first essential is the proper training. The sec¬ 
ond essential is such a desire for success that she is 
willing to perform her part with industry and devo¬ 
tion. 

“It is not as necessary to show that housekeeping 
has in it elements of business as to mqke house¬ 
keepers themselves recognize its business character 
and apply to it ordinary business principles. A quick 
attention to details, a fine sense of values, good judg¬ 
ment in buying and selling, and a ready adaptation of 
means to end with the least possible loss, are points 
of a good business man,—the housekeeper certainly 
has need of them.” 




HOME EXPENDITURES 


Whatever the condition of a family, whether large 
or small, in city or country, in private house or apart¬ 
ment, the successful expenditure of money to supply 
the family with needed comforts depends vastly more 
upon brains than upon dollars, upon the standard of 
life than upon circumstances. To know where to 
economize and where to lavish, to he on the alert for 
the small wastes, so often disregarded,—only train¬ 
ing and experience can realize the ideal in these things. 

The extreme economies practiced in former years 
are beyond doubt questionable in these days of aston¬ 
ishing increase in the production of wealth. Time has 
become too valuable to be profitably spent in weaving 
rag carpets merely to save the rags. If done, there 
must be some aesthetic value found to justify it. The 
same holds true of many occupations of the earlier 
housekeeper. The taking of these occupations from 
the home and the development of them into independ¬ 
ent industries has liberated much time and strength, 
which it is the duty of the housewife not to waste. 
The changes have been phenomenally rapid, and ad¬ 
justment could hardly be expected to keep pace, but 
there is much to indicate an appreciation of the sit¬ 
uation on the part of manv women and a sincere 
desire and endeavor to co-operate in meeting the 
changes intelligently. 

There is no less need of the practice of economy in 
the expenditures of the present time than formerly, 


Extreme 

Economies 


True Economy 


9 


Standards 
of Life 




IO JIOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

even if the methods necessarily differ. For instance, 
while we may afford ourselves finer materials and 
more variety in clothing there is a correspondingly 
greater demand for wise and intelligent choice of ma¬ 
terials for bodily needs and the avoidance of such as 
purport to be what they are not. Otherwise extrav¬ 
agance in the loss of time through illness, or even of 
life itself, results. Economy in food no longer re¬ 
quires the family to forego certain food-stuffs which 
were formerly luxuries. The requisite is rather the 
exercise of foresight in buying the product when in 
season, or legitimately within the reach of the limited 
purse. 

One must have a standard, conciously defined and 
recognized, in order to choose successfully. A stand¬ 
ard of life consists of those principles which guide 
one’s motives and direct one’s activities. Conscious 
standards are not often enough realized in things 
ethical. We have standards of weights and measures 
by which all weights and measures are tested. We 
have standards by which we discriminate in music, art, 
and many other things. But who can define his 
Standard of Life readily? We may reveal it to others, 
in fact we are constantly doing so as we decide this 
or that. The great difference between a successful 
person who accomplishes much, and one who never 
seems to amount to anything in particular, is the dif¬ 
ference in which their standards of life have been 
made clear and conscious, thus becoming a vital, guid¬ 
ing factor in action. 




HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURES 


ii 


We recognize innumerable varieties of standards, 
as the result of varying education and training, advan¬ 
tages and opportunity, or the lack of them. False 
standards arise from failure to discriminate between 
needs and wants. There are conflicting opinions as 
to what vital needs are, although it would seem self- 
evident that they consist materially, in those things 
which man must have to live under the best conditions, 
such as pure food, healthful clothing, sanitary houses, 
sufficient air and light together with those things 
which will minister to his highest intellectual and 
spiritual development. Through failure to distinguish 
intelligently the majority of people spend two-thirds 
or more of their income for what fails to bring them 
the best results in health and happiness. 

We are too inclined to scorn the women of former 
days because of their more limited horizons. We 
may profitably study their understanding of their con¬ 
ditions and needs and the wise adaptation to them, 
which gave them an important place in the work and 
progress of their time. The women who succeed to¬ 
day in the use of larger opportunities are those who, 
like them, dare to live in intelligent independence, 
true each to her individual standard of life. Such 
women do not indiscriminately copy the manners of 
living or dress of others merely to be like them or in 
fashion. They are not ashamed to acknowledge a 
liking for home-making and housekeeping. They 
spend with care and judgment A suggestive, com- 


Needs 

and 

Wants 


Adaptation 
to Conditions 


* 


12 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Good 

Intentions 


Differing 1 

Standards 


parison between the women of the past and those 
of the present is that of Miss Richardson in 7 he II Om¬ 
an Who Spends: “In olden times women thought 

and thought and thought before they spent, often mak¬ 
ing the spending a burden. Now women often spend, 
and then think and think and think. Nor does the 
lack of thought beforehand ease the burden of the 
results of her spending." 

As urged elsewhere it is not enough that we be well- 
intentioned since even then we may be painfully or 
harmfully extravagant through ignorance. We must 
know not only that pure food, hygienic clothing and 
durable furnishings are well, but we must know what 
constitutes each and how to secure them. Other¬ 
wise we must be classed among the extravagant. 

No true economy can be practiced in the home until 
a standard is adopted by all the members of the family, 
in which there is agreement of effort to promote the 
family well-being; at the same time that all unite to 
accept with intelligent grace the common deprivations 
necessary to lessen family waste either of money, 
labor, time, health, strength, or possessions. 

Standards in regard to living must necessarily dif¬ 
fer greatly with different individuals and families. 
The education, tastes, and occupations of people dif¬ 
fer so widely that it would be entirely impossible to 
establish a universal standard. That one may have 
greater demands than another is purely accidental, yet 
must be reckoned with.- Even our individual stand- 


HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURES 


13 


ards are not stationary but are ever giving way to 
new and higher ones if we are as progressive as we 
should be. All this makes it difficult to proportion ex¬ 
penditures so that the highest good' shall always be 
secured. 

The most important reason for attempting to classify 
our wants and our provision for their gratification, is 
that thereby we may provide ourselces with a defi¬ 
nitely recognized standard which can be reckoned 
with, studied, and, from time to time improved. Man 
shares with the brutes a low or primitive range of 
desires consisting of the satisfying of the physical de¬ 
mands for food, rest, shelter and clothing. Gradually 
he comes to desire other things, his standard is raised, 
and by the^epression of his desires in the lower range 
he is able to secure satisfaction in the higher. The 
day laborer necessarily has standards as to food which 
differ from those of the scholar. The scholar must 
expend more for dress, perhaps, regardless of the dif¬ 
ference of income but this difference is not vital, since 
all genuine and legitimate differences seem to pro- 
mote progress in the people. The danger lies rather 
in “accidental accompaniments'’ \yhich are not neces¬ 
sities. 

In deciding upon a standard of life, one acts upon 
his best judgment at the time, independent of others, 
except as he recognizes that lie may improve his stand¬ 
ard by comparison with theirs. “Style of living,” on 
the contrary, is thrust upon one from without, Ac- 


Value of 
ClassificaUsr 


Style of 
Living 


14 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Accurate 

Record 

Important 


Basis of 
Classification 


cepting it, he becomes its slave, entirely depend¬ 
ent upon what “they” will say as to this or that ex¬ 
penditure, never upon the consideration of the real 
good to be derived. 

Only by keeping an accurate record of expenditures 
can one follow the outgo so as to find how the stand¬ 
ards of the family measure up to the ideal. Without 
indisputable facts in black and white one is easily de¬ 
ceived. It is natural to feel that economy is being 
practiced when many a coveted article is resisted. The 
year’s bill with its record of many other indulgences 
is sometimes a rude but wholesome awakening. 
Twenty-five cents to-day and another to-morrow for 
some luxury in food seems too slight to take account 
of, but multiplied by three hundred and s^xty-five the 
increase in the food-expense becomes a considerable 
sum. It is well to look frequently to aggregated ex¬ 
penses like these. 

In arriving at a basis for the classification of ex¬ 
penditures it is helpful to compare those of a large 
number of families, studying the avenues of expense 
to determine in what wav the maximum of health ; 
physical, mental, and moral is reached. Several such 
comparative studies have been made and a few typical 
budgets have been selected to illustrate the method 
pursued in attacking the problem. 

In making a classification of one’s own, it will be 
most useful'to decide upon a tentative division of the 
year's income under the heads which seem most valu- 



HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURES ' 15 

able to keep as separate divisions. These proportions 
may be studied in per cents, or the salary for each 
week or month or quarter may be divided and the 
amount for each division reserved to defray the ex¬ 
penses which arise in connection with that division 
during the period. As time goes on one is able to 
see how accurately the provisional division was made 
to fit the needs. 

Such a theoretical division should always be de¬ 
cided upon as a check to undue expenditure, as one 
will try to bring the actual expense within the limits 
that seemed wise to set when all things were taken 
into account at the time of deciding upon the propor¬ 
tions. /- 

A regular income is the fortunate arrangement in 
many families. This tends to develop thrift and to 
remove the tendency to run up bills leading to debts. 
The tendency for such is to live up to the limit of the 
income and the division for saving and higher life in 
general is usually small. It is found that salaried 
people seldom get deeply in debt, but also seldom 
accumulate very much. 

For those without regular and known income 
the problem of apportioning expenditures is very dif¬ 
ficult. The only safe course is to determine upon a 
definite minimum income. The surplus will then be 
an unexpected pleasure. 

The actual per cent of the income allowed for each 
division will depend chiefly upon two things; namely, 


Theoretical 

Division 


Tendency 
with Regular 
Income 


Division 
of Income 


Real Values 


Budgets 




16 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

the size of the income, and the ideals or standards of 
the family. The necessities of life must be provided 
and if the income is small, barely enough to cover these 
needs, there is little choice left but to spend all for 
them. Yet as a matter of fact, choice is possible for 
most families. While a large wage-earning class are 
receiving smaller incomes than one would wish, at 
the same time we find choice playing an important 
role in determining the purchases of the day laborer, 
as well as of those who are not limited for money. In 
fact, it is with those who can least afford to be gov¬ 
erned by caprices that the most pitiful lawlessness in 
these things prevails because of ignorance. 

Enlightenment through education in real values is 
needed by all alike, that correct divisions may be made 
and lived up to, and that the division for higher life, 
most often cut to a discreditably low per cent, may be 
recognized and properly provided for. 

The following table from The Cost of Living bv 
Mrs. Ellen H. Richards gives some actual and typical 
family budgets: 


HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURES 


1 7 


Typical Budgets 





Percentage for 

Family Income Per Year. 

o 

o 

Rent and Car 
Fares to and 
from Work. 

Operating Ex¬ 
penses, Fuel, 
Wages, etc. 

Clothing. 

Higher Life. 

Savings, 

Charity, etc. 

$3,098, three adults, two chil¬ 
dren. 

27.5 

21.1 

16.8 

10. 

24.6 

2,500 (Mass.), three adults, 
no children ___ 

25. 

25. 

13. 

12. 

25. 

2,500 (Mass.), two adults, one 
child, much company. 

32. 

18. 

18. 

10. 

22. 

1,980 (St. Louis), four adults, 
two children. 

36.3 

24 2 

20.9 

18. 

30 

950 (Mass.), two adults, 
three children. 

20. 

19. 

16. 

15. 

30. 

600 (Boston), two adults 
(women), two children. 

23. 

26. 

4. 

5. 

f 26.1 

) Travel, 

Sickness, etc. 

535 (N. Y.), two adults, 
three children.. 

55.2 

22.4 

5.3 

9.4 

15.9 

7.7 

312 ‘ * mean ’ ’ Englishman, 
two adults, three chil- 
ri ren.. 


15 5 

8 9 

13 1 

7 3 

300, Dr. Engell’s estimates 

62. 

12. 

5. 

16. 

5 

From Cost of Living , Mrs. 
E. H. Richards. 







From these budgets it will be seen that little choice 
is given the families of most limited means. The 
necessities cost about the same for all. It is in the 
range of luxuries that the greatest divergence is to 
lie found. Only there can limitations he wisely set. 
In those where choice is possible, one observes a va- 
rietv of results, showing that one family preferred to 
economize in one way, another in another. The com¬ 
forts to be secured through increase of rent appeal to 


Necessities 

Uniform 






























Extravagance 


Ideal 

Budgets 


18 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

one, those of additional service, another, and so 
throughout the list. 

Extravagance is most frequently found in the Food 
and Operating expense divisions. Individual extrav¬ 
agance occurs most frequently in clothes. 

With these actual and typical budgets in mind note 
the Budgets, as suggested by Mrs. Ellen H. Richards, 
which give the ideal theoretical division of incomes 
varying from $500 to $4000. The interest and profit 
to the housewife in the comparison of these widely 
differing standards will be the stimulus to keep sys¬ 
tematic accounts, that she may be able to determine 
the percentages of her own family expenses. Such 
an account with its day of reckoning is an excellent 
moral support since one will learn to think twice 
over the temptation to spend for personal gratifica¬ 
tion, or for those things which have at best little 
to recommend them either for pleasure or profit. 


HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURES 


19 


Ideal Budgets 


Percentage for 


Family Income. 

'C 

0 

0 

Rent. 

Operating Ex¬ 
penses, Fuel, 
Wages, etc. 

Clothing. 

Higher Life, 

Book, Travel, 

Charity, Sav¬ 

ings, Insn’nce 

Two adults and two or three children 
(equal to four adults): 

Ideal Division— 

$2,000 to $4,000 . 

25 

20 ± 

15 ± 

15 ± 

1 

25 

2,000 to 1,000. . 

25 

20 

15 ± 

20 ± 

20 

800 to 1,000. 

30 

20 

10 

15 

25 

BOO to 800. 

45 

15 

10 

.10 

20 

Under $500. 

60 

15 

5 

10 

10 

From Cost of Living, Mrs. E. H. Rich¬ 
ards. 





1 




Four laws have been formulated by Dr. Engel, 
which state the tendency in the changes of per cents 
noted in such budgets as we have been considering: 

DR. ENGEL’S LAWS 

1. The proportion between expenditure and nutri¬ 
ment grows in geometric progression in adverse ratio 
to well-being; in other words, the higher the income, 
the smaller is the per cent of cost of subsistence. 

2. Clothing assumes and keeps a distinctly con¬ 
stant proportion in the whole. 

3. Lodging, warming and lighting have an in¬ 
variable proportion, whatever the income. 

4. The more the income increases the greater is 
the proportion of the different expenses which ex¬ 
press the degree of well-being. 



























20 


HO USE Ii OLD MA N A GEM EN T 

DIVISION OF INCOME CHART 
Typical Family of Two Adults and Three Children 



Bunding Expenses include Wages, Fuel, Light, Ice, Etc. With $1000 
Income the Children Would be Educated in the Public Schools. 

The above chart was adapted from a large colored 
chart prepared under the direction of Mrs. E. H. 

Richards for the Mary Lowell Stone Exhibit on Home 
Economics. 


/ 




























































































































































RENT 


21 


The classes of expenditure discussed in the follow¬ 
ing pages are those which, on the whole, best repre¬ 
sent the different divisions into which money expendi¬ 
ture may fall. These are Rent, or its equivalent paid 
for shelter, Operating Expenses, such as fuel, light, 
wages and repairs, Food, Clothes and Higher Life. 
The latter includes all that ministers to mental and 
moral well-being, as education, travel, amusements, 
charities, savings and insurance. These will be con¬ 
sidered in order. 


RENT 

The question of buying or renting a house which 
shall offer shelter and make a home for the familv 

J 

is often a difficult one in these days. Formerly private 
possession was much more universal than at the pres¬ 
ent time. It is more or less impossible within a wide 
radius of the center of our largest cities to-day to 
buy a single house at any price. For this reason peo¬ 
ple are more and more forced to rent, and must share 
a house with other families, usually, either in double 
houses, apartments or flats. Many of the objections 
which are to be urged against boarding are equally 
forceful for this manner of living. The too close 
proximity of others is a misfortune, yet it is preferable 
to boarding, since some privacy and individuality may 
still be preserved. Some, feeling the natural instinct 
of ownership too strongly to be content to give it up 
so completely, will prefer to go into the suburbs and 


Division of 

Household 

Expenditures 


Buying 

or 

Renting 


o :> 


110 US Ell OLD MANAGEMENT 


Disadvantages 

of 

Buying 


Advantage 
of Ownership 


rely upon electric cars or other means of transporta¬ 
tion, for going to and returning from business. 

The difficulties which present themselves when one 
considers buying, may be summed up under the fol¬ 
lowing heads: 

1. Scarcity of available houses in places of any 
size. 

2. Greatly increased cost, due to increasing valua¬ 
tion of property. 

3. Tendency of fluctuating business, causing 
changes in plans or place of residence, necessitating 
the disposal of a house at a sacrifice. 

4. Unforeseen changes in business centers in our 
rapidly growing towns, and cities, greatly affecting 
the desirability of the location for a home. 

5. Constant expenditures required to keep a house 
in repair, often in excess of rent. 

6. Decreasing tendency on the part of young peo¬ 
ple to have a saving fund which can be used or which 
they are willing to use for purchasing a home. 

The advantages of owning a home when it is at all 
possible or feasible, far outweigh these disadvantages. 
Renting tends to develop demoralizing habits of care¬ 
lessness and indifference. The word “home” should 
have a meaning for us vastly deeper and richer than 
can be bounded by four walls, it is true, or than can 
be centered in material or outward covering, yet all 
such aids prove vital in developing and strengthening 
the highest regard for the name with children. The 


RENT 


2 3 


man or woman is to be profoundly pitied to whose 
mind the name does not recall a definite and loved spot 
as the home of childhood. 

Nothing contributes more surely and steadily to the 
development of a worthy citizen and through him of a 
worthy community than proprietorship in his home. 
It removes the temptation to move from place to place 
—always a great hindrance to the development of an 
ideal home. The family that rents tends to disregard 
property rights and to enter with less pride or con¬ 
cern into the neighborhood life. As soon as a home 
however humble, is acquired, a pride is taken in 
it and its surroundings and the sense of personal re¬ 
sponsibility for the tone of the community is much 
keener. 

In providing for shelter either by buying or renting, 
three factors should play a part, (i) sanitary require¬ 
ments, (2) those things which, like location and archi¬ 
tectural appearance, answer the social requirements, 
(3) and standards of living. Sanitary requirements 
may well be placed first. Money is well and econ¬ 
omically expended which secures the best possible 
sanitary conditions. Failure at this point has cost 
many families far more than the two or three dollars’ 
difference per month in rents by adding doctor’s bills 
—most uneconomical of all expenditures—to the 
lowering of vitality and decreasing of efficiency. 

Distinction should be made between essentials and 
non-essentials, between showy cheats and real worth. 


Legitimate 

Expenditure 


Essentials 
and Non- 
Essentials 


24 


Reasons 
for Low 
Price 


\ 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

Bright gilding does not make good plumbing nor 
does an especially fine porch bespeak a carefully con¬ 
structed cellar. Some of the principle requisites are: 
Ample air space for each individual, (300 cu. ft. for 
each person having been found to be the lowest amount 
permissible according to sanitary rules) ; light, fresh 
air and water in abundance. Drainage conditions 
should be above suspicion within and without. A 
house so constructed as to require the minimum of 
labor to care for is also a wise and economical con¬ 
sideration. The housewife will be surprised in her 
search for these requirements to find what poor pro¬ 
visions exist in most houses. The demand for the 
best sanitary conditions has been so slight up to the 
present time, that those who build have not found 
it essential to give them large attention, since selling 
or renting so seldom depends upon these things. 

If a house is found which is ofifered at a price less 
than others which are similar in the vicinity, one 
of three reasons may be found to account for it. 
Either it is an old house out of repair, or is m an 
undesirable neighborhood, or it is simply cheaply con¬ 
structed. In weighing its merits great care should 
he exercised to distinguish as to the cause. If it is 
such as to he a menace to health, physical or moral, 
one has no right to choose it. If it will cost more 
to put it in good condition to live in than the difference, 
or if operating expenses, as fuel, will be increased 
more than enough to offset the difference, then it is 


RENT 


2 5 


poor economy to select it; but if the difference is 
merely one in incidentals such as more or less expen¬ 
sive woods for finishing, etc., then it may be wise to 
sacrifice a little at this point rather than in something 
more vital. 

In building, the demands of modern life require, 
not including cost of land, an expenditure of about 
$1000 per person, or $4000 for the typical family of 
five persons. It is easy to vary this to the two ex¬ 
tremes. In most localities, $10,000 should build all 
that any family could use for themselves alone so far 
as essentials go. 

The cost of building varies so greatly that no very 
definite estimates can be given. In parts of the United 
States where building materials and labor are high the 
cost of a house may be nearly double that in places 
where prices are low. The recent experience of others 
or the conservative estimate of a local architect or con¬ 
tractor is the only safe guide. 

The difference in expense too often represents other 
than legitimate reasons: A large expenditure fre¬ 
quently represents bad taste and showy ornamentation 
rather than more abundant sunlight, fresh air and 
cleanly surroundings. A good rule to bear in mind 
is that '‘less should be spent for the mere house and 
more for what goes on in it—the real life.” 

In deciding what may be legitimately spent for rent 
one may safely estimate whatever is necessary to se¬ 
cure the requisites for health. It ought to be possible 


Cost of 
Building 


Rental 


2 6 


* HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Location 
and Rent 


Supreme 
Tescs of the 
Housewife 


to secure safe surroundings at a cost not exceeding 20 
per cent of any income between $500 and $5000 a year, 
not including the expense of heating and lighting. If 
more than that is necessary, it is an indication that 
the sanitary standards in the community are not as 
high as they should be. As a matter of fact low 
standards which the individual alone is powerless to 
correct often force the expense to 25 per cent to secure 
safety. 

The location of a house in its relation to place of 
business, school, etc., should be considered. If at a dis¬ 
tance so that carfares are necessary these should be 
reckoned as a part of the rent. In considering the rent 
of a heated apartment about $5 per month should be 
credited for the heat, in addition to janitor service and 
hot water if these are furnished. 

OPERATING EXPENSES 

Operating expenses consist, for the most part, of 
the necessary expenditure to keep a house warmed, 
lighted, clean and in repair. The skill with which 
these expenses are managed is the supreme test of 
the ability of the housewife, materially speaking. 
Other decisions may be turned ofif more easily or at¬ 
tended to once for all, and there is some end to them. 
In these the highest success can only be realized by 
the woman who has a genius for details, who will 
allow nothing to escape her consideration, yet who has 
the ability to carry them with a degree of ease and 


OPERATING EXPENSES 27 

mastery so that it will not be apparent to others, at 
least, that she finds them perplexing or burdensome. 
The over-anxious, wearied woman is as lacking in the 
element of success as the careless and heedless one. 
She may be able, through her greater watchfulness, to 
save more money, but family happiness is perhaps 
more endangered, through the depression of spirits and 
the friction which result, than in the other case. To 
remove friction and reduce to a harmonious unit are 
parts of what she must accomplish through the direc¬ 
tion of the operating expenses. 

The same standards should control in deciding the 
avenues of expenditure here as in selecting a house or 
deciding any of the other divisions. Health, comfort 
and happiness in the highest and broadest conception 
of these words should be the only factors having 
weight. Whether my neighbor has a maid should be 
nothing to me in my decision as to the necessity of 
having one. To be met at the door by a suitably at¬ 
tired official ought not to be as important as it would 
sometimes seem to be, in leading us to decide whether 
we have had a pleasant and profitable call on a friend. 
All these things are well in their place, but they are 
by no means so vital that one should sacrifice far more 
important things and magnify these out of all propor¬ 
tion. 

Much of the necessary operating expense is deter¬ 
mined when the house is selected, and the two should 
always be considered together. If the number of 


Worry 


Determining 1 

Factors 


r 


Approximate 
Cost for 
Service 


Wage 


28 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

rooms is limited, the expense of caring for them will 
be correspondingly less. If the house is conveniently 
arranged so that the work may be swiftly performed, 
the work of each helper will “go further" than if much 
time is wasted through unnecessary steps or move¬ 
ments. So, also, in the expense of heating. One 
should consider whether the house is arranged com¬ 
pactly or not, what the loss of heat through exposure 
of rooms will be, etc., so that the cost of heating can 
be correctly reckoned with. 

It has been estimated that, for an ordinary city 
house, the sum paid annually for wages of servants 
should be eojual to one-half tire rental value of the 
house. This can only be realized, however, by those 
who are willing to simplify their manner of living so 
as to reduce expenses more than the average at the 
present time, or by those who give assistance in the 
duties. 

When servants are kept the cost of the other operat¬ 
ing expenses will be increased without corresponding 
satisfaction. In general, they should be kept equal to 
the amount paid as wages. An excellent standard to 
keep in mind is the maintenance of the “maximum of 
efficiency at minimum cost." It is true economy to 
expend for what will remove friction or prove time¬ 
saving. 

The wages of a general helper for housework vary 
according to location, from $3.00 per week or less in 
some small towns in the East and through the middle 


♦ 


OPERATING EXPENSES 


2 y 


West to $4.00 or $5.00 in the larger cities. This must 
be doubled in allowing for board and room and for 
the additional outlay because of more wasteful cook¬ 
ing and more careless handling of furnishings. One 
housekeeper who kept a careful record of expenses 
both when with and without help, found the weekly 
expense from one-fourth to one-third more when help 
was employed. 

The average cost of hiring by the hour for work 
done in the house is from 15 to 25 cents per hour in¬ 
cluding die midday meal, if the helper remains over 
that time. Laundry work for unstarched, flat pieces, 
averages 25 cents per dozen. 

When all the main avenues of expense have been 
carefully considered to eliminate excessive or unnec¬ 
essary expenditure, there remains for the thrifty 
housewife the daily exercise of much watchful care 
over the Tittles” which otherwise astonishingly run 
up the expense. A three-burner chandelier ablaze in¬ 
stead of one Welsbach burner which would give better 
light at less than a third the cost; a range fire opened, 
at the loss of at least a hod of coal, to prepare a 
warm dish for supper when the use of a gas or oil 
stove for a short time would accomplish the desired 
result much more cheaply; daily orders in piece-meal 
over a limited telephone service, because the difference 
is not considered sufficiently important to necessitate 
the thought required to combine all the orders for that 
day, or for several days, in one message: these are 


Hour 

Work 


Small 

Wastes 




* 


Proper 

Food 


) 


30 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

all trifles in themselves, but five cents here and ten 
there make a surprisingly large difference in the sum 
total The difference between skilful, thoughtful out¬ 
lay and careless spending, is to be measured in the 
added comforts to be secured by the one who learns 
the secret of successful management in this group 
of expenses. 


FOOD 

The influence of food upon the welfare of the house¬ 
hold must be first considered in apportioning the 
share of income rightly devoted to it. In referring 
to the budgets we find that as the income decreases the 
percentage devoted to food increases. Why is this, or 
why should it be so? It is because the life of the in¬ 
dividual depends upon his nourishment. His shelter 
may be poor, his clothing inadequate for his needs, 
but food he must have and upon proper food depends 
his capacity for doing work and doing it well. 

The child must be properly nourished that it may 
be a strong little animal, growing into healthy happy 
youth. The adult must be well nourished to be an ef¬ 
ficient member of the community, whether as a wage- 
earner or as a household spender. The food supply 
must be right for errors and wrong doing here show 
their effects in a weakened power to perform work 
or resist disease. In this lies the justificatoin of the 
poor man who possibly spends two-thirds of his in¬ 
come for food. 


FOOD 


3i 


The wide variation, however, as shown in the bud¬ 
gets, does not indicate proper nourishment in one case, 
improper food in another. Over-nutrition is often as 
dangerous as under-nutrition and the cost of food does 
not determine its nutritive value. It by no means fol¬ 
lows that because a family has large butcher’s and 
grocer’s bills it is therefore better nourished. The 
same causes affect the cost of foods as influence the 
price of other commodities. The demand for and 
scarcity of any article; being in or out of season; cost 
of transportation; loss through waste in foods that 
deteriorate quickly; fancy price asked for certain rare 
flavors, all these determine price outside of any con¬ 
sideration of nutritive value. 

Bullock gives five ways in which he estimates that 
one-fifth of the money expended for food is actually 
wasted. 

1. Needlessly expensive material, providing little 
nutrition. 

2. A great deal thrown away. 

3. Bad preparation. 

4. Failure to select rightly according to season. 

j. Badly constructed ovens. 

In 1900 when Mrs. Richard’s book on The Cost of 

• 

Living was published experiments in dietaries were 
made and the cost of the raw material required for so 
many persons a day estimated. The conclusions 
reached at that time were that twenty-five or thirty 
cents per person a day is ample to supply all the 


Sources 
of Wide 
Variation 


Waste of 
Money 
in Food 


Cost per 
Person 


32 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


High Cost 
of Food 


Sources 
of Waste 


physical demands of one whose tastes have not been 
perverted by wrong habits of eating. Good, sub¬ 
stantial living, meeting all the needs of people of sim¬ 
ple habits, can be secured at less than that. When 
the expense exceeds that sum it is due to one or more 
of the following reasons: 

1. Waste. 

2. Buying out of season. 

3. Choice of food of which there is a limited sup¬ 
ply therefore price is high. 

4. Perishable food stuffs. 

5. Fads or fashions in dishes. 

6. High priced products because of choice flavors 
as “Gilt Edged Butter,” or food which is “in season” 
but a short time, as venison. 

Since the year in which the experiments and in¬ 
vestigations were carried on certain staple food stuffs 
have increased nearly twenty per cent in price, so 
that the margin for the same bill of fare now should 
be wider, or from twenty-five to thirty-five cents per 
person a day. 

The housewife should carefully consider these esti¬ 
mates and the causes most fruitful of waste in the 
household. Far too lavish provision is often made in 
ordering. Study and observation must be given to the 
necessary quantity of meats, vegetables, etc., to be pro¬ 
vided and served. Large portions are left to be improp¬ 
erly warmed over, wasted in the kitchen, or thrown 
away altogether. Waste in the household arises mainly 


FOOD 


33 


from lack of thought, planning, or carefulness in de¬ 
tail, just as in any other business. A study of foods 
and food values is necessary in order to know what 
less expensive material may be provided to sup¬ 
ply the same need, but above all else must the house¬ 
wife who desires to make a study of these things, 
and reduce the waste in the household realize that no 
waste is greater than poor material, illy prepared. The 
more knowledge, the more science used in the selec¬ 
tion and preparation of food for the table should mean 
more, not less appetizing results. 

It is of course easier to provide a good table for 
eight people on $2.40 per day than for four people at 
$1.20. It must be remembered that many people live 
well on less; many more are well nourished on much 
less. 

The pecuniary economy of food is seen in the ac¬ 
companying charts, and those articles which would be 
classed under unnecessary expense may be easily sepa¬ 
rated from the more legitimate. 

Of course the price paid for food cannot be regu¬ 
lated entirely by a consideration of nutriment alone. 
It must satisfy aesthetic demands as well. Food must 
be enjoyed in order to be thoroughly well digested. 
This is a strong argument in favor of a moderate use 
of animal foods. Although vastly more expensive 
than vegetable foods, they do gratify the palate of 
most people in ways which vegetable foods do not. 
This fact together with their superiority in being more 


Numbers 


Aesthetic 

Demands 


34 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

Chart of Composition of Foods 


Nutrients. 


Non-nutrients. 


Protein. Fats, Carbo- Mineral 
hydrates, matters. 


£23 wmm 

Water. Refuse. 


Fuel value, 
Calories. 


10 20 30 40 50 60 70 -80 60 -J » 

400 800 1200 H300 2000 2400 2800 3200 3600 4000 



Without bone. 
















































































































































































FOOD 


35 


Chart of Pecuniary Economy of Food 


Protein. 



Carbohydrates 


Fuel Valu/fi 


FOOD MATERIALS 

Prue 

fZi 

T>~ 

cents 

will 

buy 

Pounds o/nulnAUs and, ealorus of fuel value ui SO eenU 
worth,. 

£e*Ofo 

iU 

Sib libs slbs 

lOOcCal tooo Cal ooooCat 

‘i'juf, 1 ound 

i<» 

■7t 




— 



, 

— 

m 


e bu% , euiZavn, 

10 

.bO 

M 


, 's&ou&cluu 

i$ 

.61 

m 


C?t£uXt<HV, (id# 

\b 

.62 

m 


eSt-ft, £ovn/ 

1? 

.62 

USk 

wmmmm 

<§o<&, na£k,JpaX? 

1? 

*h 

Sg —|- 


t fwuAtx) 

i$. 

16 

M . F ' ... - - - - 


Qbitftv. fixn&.ht&osb 

10 

t 00 

§ . 

■ 

(?i2jfcc& i'tux&eJ 

7 

1*8 

m 


Q^fUno., 

18 




e^t)£H , f> eifrXt ^vuitfc 

5 


UtM 

S.SS 

mmmm 


?8 

.<•0 

eg 


<S&ctac 

' # 

.ib 

9*1 


Sqq©, ?*f fknyn- 

-. ■ -** - 

16 

,6b 

r~' .- ' ■■■ ■ 


iS&tat 

b 

1.00 




) 

i.S i 

1 


C^CTT/TV 

i* 

HlO 



(3ivt tivca^ 

t 

110 



"Joa-vij). »oSvt<. ck**.d 

S 

1J00 

wmmmmmm -- ■ ■ 


tflue 

% 



as 

OHHBBm 

FaX oXca/o , bOeovilt iy*jstd/£ 

i 


^1% a 

\0 m 



6 

1.67 

t* 



From Farmers’ Bnlletin, No. 142. 






















































































Real 

Purpose 


Legitimate 

Expenditure 


36 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

easily and completely digested are valid reasons for 
paying somewhat more for the sake of securing them. 

CLOTHING 

Clothing, like food, should he considered first of 
all in its relation to the possible increase of health and 
efficiency. Like the function of food, this is too much 
lost sight of at the present time while the aesthetic 
side of the subject is receiving an undue share of 
emphasis. The cost of clothing is too largely the re¬ 
sult of an attempt to gratify the desire to please the 
world at large, rather than of protecting the body. 
We all know too many instances of the rashest ex¬ 
cesses to which this may lead, destroying all hope of 
realizing higher and worthier ideals. A safe-guard 
to such excess lies in an intelligent training and 
thoughtful study of these things. 

Sufficient and suitable protection from clothing, so 
that one is enabled to meet the varying changes of cli¬ 
mate without loss of energy, is a distinct advantage, 
offering grounds for reasonable expenditure. This 
should debar either too scant provision, or too great 
excess, which weakens power of resistance. The 
aesthetic has a legitimate place in the consideration, 
but should he subordinate to health, if the two ever 
seem to conflict. There is, as we know,- the greatest 
possible difference in people in ability to “make a lit¬ 
tle go a long way” in providing satisfactorily for cloth¬ 
ing. Knowledge and care will aid greatly in helping 


HIGHER LIFE 


37 


one to conform to the laws both of health ,and beauty. 
A pleasing, becoming color or style is little, if any, 
more expensive than one which is unbecoming. One 
should seek to develop true individual taste and ex¬ 
pression, relying less upon the not infallible dictum 
of clress-makers. To secure clothing, then, which shall 
be a protection from heat and cold should be the first 
motive. Along with this should go a recognition that 
the outer garments may be and should be a means of 
contributing to the pleasure of others, through a cor¬ 
rect selection of pleasing colors and graceful forms. 
Both these may be entirely legitimate considerations, 
but there should not result, from over emphasis, a 
dwarfing of the more important things in life. 

HIGHER LIFE 

The preceding divisions have to do chiefly with 
those things which support and protect the physical 
well-being. The fifth important provision should be 
for the higher life, or the demands of the intellectual 
and spiritual nature. The most important business 
of any life is to develop this side to its highest possi¬ 
bilities and to find its fullest expression. Other con¬ 
siderations are in reality subordinate to this. 

Unless a definite allowance is set aside for the pur¬ 
pose material demands encroach until all is spent. 
Even if something more is realized each year than is 
spent, the money itself seems too often to be the 
most valuable possession, rather than the comforts and 


Good 

Taste 


Xecessary 

Consideration 


Value 
of Definite 
Allowance 


38 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Realizing 

Ideals 


Wide 

Range 


aesthetic, ideals which it might secure. It is a battle, 
in these days of materialism, to reserve one-fourth of 
an income for the satisfaction of the needs of the 
higher nature, yet there is no greater need in our 
nation than that of more families who realize the im¬ 
perativeness of doing it, and who independently insist 
upon proving it to be possible. Those* who resolutely 
decide upon this course tend to more refined living, 
give “more thought to the meaning of life, to the object 
for which all exertion should tend, more thought for 
the manner of accomplishing a given result, less for 
the money value of it.” 

It means making a place for ideals, recognizing their 
necessary place in life, and resolutely setting one’s face 
toward realizing them. Such a purpose serves as an 
admirable check to the gratification of lower desires 
and unnecessary spending, while whatever is found 
to be necessary and worthy will have a double value 
because of the thought and care exercised in the de¬ 
cision. 

There is a very wide range possible for different 
tastes in ministering to the higher life. One will pre¬ 
fer travel, another literature, a third art, while church 
and charity must find place in all higher life. It mat¬ 
ters, perhaps, less what particular side is developed 
than that there shall be conscious effort tozvard a 
higher and a fuller life, and that choice rather than 
idle drifting rules. It is true that all altruistic motives 
which look to the good of another, be he kin or other- 


HIGHER LIRE 


39 


wise, arc more full of elevating influence upon a life 
than those which seek merely one’s own highest good. 
One should gain the habit of choosing those things 
that endure, and have abiding value rather than those 
of momentary or temporary advantage. 

Even when guided by an impulse to make provision 
for one's family, it is to be borne in mind that the best 
possible investment which can be made for a child is 
a liberal education. All that anyone in normal health 
and strength should need is a thorough preparation 
to do his or her work efficiently, with motives toward 
the best things which life has to offer and the possi¬ 
bilities of a better life than his parents have had. 
Too liberal provision is often seen to destroy incentive 
and the things of highest value are cheapened when 
they cost little effort. Progress can only be made- 
through striving. Conscious effort is as necessary for 
the health of mind as for health of body. For this 
reason it is best that what we enjoy should be the 
result of choice and denial, and we-should learn early 
to pay for what we get. A surplus should be reserved 
against emergencies, that a feeling of independence 
may be fostered, yet this should not be insisted upon 
to the point of crippling life. 

As to ways of saving, the field is large. Some 
methods employed at the present time are to be com¬ 
mended in highest terms. Against others too severe 
condemnation cannot be passed. Among those forms 
which are safe may be classed life insurance, savings 


Wise 

Investment 


Ways of 
Saving 


Life 

Insurance 


Hailroad 

Securities 


r 


40 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

banks, loans on real estate and investments in stocks 
and bonds. 

In selecting - , one should consider whether the busi¬ 
ness which the company is transacting is legitimate 
and also whether it is probably permanent because 
it serves a real public use with elements of growth 
and lasting development, or whether it is merely a 
‘‘flash in the pan” scheme. Again, it is important to 
know whether the company has sufficient capital to 
make the business a safe one, and whether the man¬ 
agement, so far as can be determined, is wise and 
honest. 

Life insurance is becoming an increasingly popular 
form of saving. With a reliable company, and under 
some of the favorable arrangements possible at the 
present time, such as terminal endowment policies, 
yielding a fair interest for money invested, as well 
as insurance, it is without doubt one of the best 
methods. Some find the imperative demand to meet 
the annual payments a very helpful check upon ex¬ 
penditure. There is not the risk of loss through fail¬ 
ure to pay at any time which formerly existed, since, 

% 

in emergencies, money can be loaned on the insurance 
or one can secure at some sacrifice the return of the 
amount paid in. 

Railroad securities are possibly first in value, such 
bonds, if good, being unquestionable security and 
yielding good return. There is little fluctuation in 
value, and the reports are frequent and controlled by 


HIGHER LIFE 


4i 


state law, so that one may know the exact condition 
of the investment at any time. 

Loans on buildings, or real estate are excellent 
forms of investment, if one knows beyond question the 
value of the property secured. These may not be as 
readily transferred or their value realized, as with 
stocks and bonds. 

I11 general it may be said that for the ordinary in¬ 
vestors in our country any investment yielding over 
4 1-2 or 5 per cent is to be classed as a risk, and is 
not consistent with sound finance. A safe investment 
yielding that return is far wiser than a questionable 
one promising more. A high interest rate is almost in¬ 
variably, in the very nature of things, a warning of 
insecurity. Shrewd capitalists of the country are cer¬ 
tain to know of any especially favorable opportunities 
and seize upon them, if desirable, so that the small 
investors should not look for phenomenal returns. 

The frequent reports of failures, and cases of those 
involved who have met with pitiable losses emphasizes 
the danger and evils of speculation. These often rise 
in the form of local crazes, with heated booming for 
a short lived career, or as investment in some gold or 
copper mines at too great distance to be personally 
investigated. These should be condemned and avoided 
as almost without exception dangerous. Women are 
found to be particularly susceptible to such alluring 
opportunities to “get rich quick” because of failure in 
training in sound business principles. 


Mortgages 


Safe 

Interest 


Get-~ich- 

Quick 

Ventures 


1 


HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTS 


Value 
and Necessity 


What 

Accounts 

Should 

Show 


The management of the money affairs of a family is 
usually the most perplexing part of its domestic prob¬ 
lem. Yet, in spite of this fact, the least candid study 
and thought are given to it. The value of accurate 
accounts, as well as their necessity, is recognized in 
the entire business world. Few associations of indi¬ 
viduals are organized for any specific purpose without 
careful regard to the maintenance of the proper rela¬ 
tion of income and outgo. The value and importance 
of this is no less to the housekeeper than to the banker 
or grocer. The appallingly frequent examples of reck¬ 
less disregard in this respect, leading to a constantly 
increasing number of unpaid bills and final ruin, ought 
to teach the sad lesson of the unthrifty. Yet statisti¬ 
cians tell us that at least one-half of our well-to-do 
families are seriously handicapped by debt. Along 
with that fact should be emphasized another—the 
number of families in which accounts of personal and 
family expenses are kept is astonishingly small, and 
in few instances where such records are kept is suffi¬ 
cient study given to them to lead to advance in stand¬ 
ard of living from year to year. 

In conducting any business it is of the greatest 
importance (i) to follow the receipts and expenses, 
(2) to keep a record of investments and (3) to deter¬ 
mine at the end of the year, or shorter period, the 
results of the business and the exact condition of the 


42 




HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTS 43 

capital. The modern household is an intricate business ^ 
concern. Its financial administration demands as per¬ 
fect exactness, order and method as any other, if it is 
to attain in any degree its possible efficiency. Such 
exactness alone renders the accounts of any real worth. 
They may be made of priceless value in directing the 
activities and ministering to the comfort of all in the 
home. 

The question who shall be head bookkeeper and 
director of the household expenditures will probably 
be best decided by determining which grown member 
of the family has a genius for accounts. It naturally 
falls to the housekeeper as the one who can manage 
best and has the most intimate acquaintance with the 
entire situation. In any case, it should be one who 
loves it or who sees in it possibilities large enough to 
create a willingness to give the necessary thought and 
time to make it a success. It has been made a profitable 
and interesting business training in some families for 
growing boys and girls. Possibly promotion from 
the keeping of their own personal accounts to those 
of the household might be made an excellent stimulus. 
With a clear, convenient system, adapted to the needs 
of the particular records to be kept, and with a busi¬ 
ness-like promptness in entering each night the trans¬ 
actions of the day while fresh in mind, what is often 
looked upon as a perplexing hardship may become an 
interesting study. A helpful aid to memory is a card 
neatly fitted into the purse, upon which sufficient entry 


The 

Account 

Keeper 


] 


44 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Systems 


Envelope 

Method 


may be made at the time of the expenditure to assist 
in recalling* the details when they are wanted for enter¬ 
ing in the account. A shopping list filled out with 
prices as one purchases is a useful aid to memory. 

The system employed in keeping the accounts may 
he very simple. The only necessary requirement is 
that it he sufficiently complete to record in concise, 
available form the necessary facts to indicate clearly 
the details of income and outgo. It must he possible 
to compare these two sides of the account at any time 
in order to prove that the balance as shown by the 
account corresponds with the cash on hand. 

Various systems have been devised and successfully 
used. The efficiency of anyone depends quite as much, 
perhaps, upon the thorough, painstaking effort of the 
user to bring it to its utmost point of efficiency and 
utility as upon the system itself. 

Some find a series of envelopes a very convenient 
form of keeping the records. Each envelope is labeled 
with the name of the particular division of the 
expenses which it is to hold. After it has been decided 
what proportion shall he spent for each division the 
sum is put into its envelope, to he drawn as needed. 

A slip of paper or card in the envelope records each 
addition, and the expenditures from that envelope 
during the week or month, or a cash account is also 
kept of the household expenses and personal account. 
Any division like the following may he made with the 
envelopes: 


IIO USEIL OLD A CCO UNTS 


45 


Suppose a family consisting of a man and wife live 
in a steam-heated flat and have an income of $30 a 
week. The following divisions might be made each 
week: 

ReiR .. $7.00 

Household expenses. 

Fuel and light. 

Man s personal allowance and expenses, 

including lunches and car fares. 

Madam’s personal allowance. 

Extras and emergencies, including dentist, 

doctor, etc. 

Church and charities. 

Insurance and savings bank.. 

$30.00 

For amusements there may lie a separate envelope, 
or, as there are four months in which there will be 
five payments to the envelope, these extra four pay¬ 
ments may be used for amusements in connection with 
household expenses. 

A system like this has the advantage of keeping 
always before one just what is at hand to draw from. 
The leading disadvantages over other methods is its 
cumbrousness. It involves the keeping of a considerable 
amount of money on hand and also presents a great 
temptation to borrow from one envelope to another 
for making change, etc., which is likely to lead to 
confusion of accounts. 


7.00 
1.00 

5.00 

4.00 

2.00 
1.00 
3.00 


Example 


Advantages 

and 

Disadvan¬ 

tages 











Cards 

and 

Envelopes 


Journal 


46 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

If the records for the envelopes were kept on cards, 
these might be filed in a card index for comparison 
and permanent reference as explained later. 

On the whole, a system by which the accounts are 

finally entered in books intended for that purpose 

* 

proves most ‘Satisfactory. Such books may be pro¬ 
cured already ruled for entries, or a blank book can 
easily be ruled as desired. For a complete record the 
same books are useful as for other accountants—a 
journal, ledger and balance sheet. The journal and 
ledger may well be combined in one book, as will be 
explained in connection with Table III. 

The household account records exchanges whereby 
the housewife buys the goods or services which her 
household needs, giving in exchange of her means. 
The simplest statement of such exchanges is made in 
a journal. A single page is used to enter both receipts 
and expenses. Thus: 

table 1 


1904. 


Received. 

Paid. 

Jan. 1 

C^sh in hand '. 

$20.00 


2 

Washing. 


$1 50 

4• it 

Grocer. 


8 00 

“ 3 

Coal. 


14 00 

i i i l 

Flour.. 


4.75 

“ 5 

Salary.. 

50.00 


4 4 it 

Car fares.. 


50 

i i it 

Cleaning. 


1 25 

“ 8 

Eggs....... 


1.10 

t ( it 

Washing. 


1.50 

“ 10 

Potatoes. 


1.70 



$70.00 

$34.30 



34.30 


it 4 i 

Balance on hand. 

$35.70 



































HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTS 


47 


If purchases are itemized elsewhere for reference, 
such an account as this may contain sufficient data. 
It is possible to itemize more fully in this journal 
record if desired, as is illustrated in Table II. 

TABLE II 


1903. 


Cr. 

Dr. 

Daily 

Totals. 

Feb. 

4 4 

1 

2 

By balance brought forward. 

To washing. 

$75.70 

$1.50 



* * 

“ 2 tons coal at $7 per ton. 


14.00 

$15.50 


3 

“ 3 bu. potatoes at*80c. per bu. 


2.40 


« » 

“ 5 doz.*eggs at 22c. perdoz. 


1.10 

3.50 


5 

4 4 

“ cleaning one day. .*. 


1.25 



“ rent for~January. 


15.00 



4* 

“ 8 lbs. beef at 14c. per lb . 


1.12 

17.37 


8 

“ washing .*. 


1.50 

1.50 


10 

Bv salary 7. 

50,00 




4 4 

To car fares..—. 


.60 

.69 . 



Totals 

$125.70 


$38.47 



(Balance, $87.23.) 





In the second table it will be noted that the terms 
usually employed in bookkeeping are introduced. 
These are easily understood. The term “By” intro¬ 
duces all terms belonging to the credit or receipt 
column; the “To,” items of the debit or expense col¬ 
umn. The abbreviation “Cr.” for credit heads the 
column of receipts, indicating that the house account 
has that much more to its credit, while the “Dr." 
abbreviation for debit shows to what extent the house 
has become indebted or has placed itself under obliga¬ 
tion for benefits received. 

Table II also includes a column for daily totals, 
which carries the account a step further in efficiency. 
In the final footing up of the columns these totals are 


Itemized 

Accounts 


Terms 


Daily 

Totals 




































Use of 
Ledger 


Credit 

Accounts 




48 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

a convenience, since it is always easier to add a short 
list of large figures than a long column of small items. 
It is sometimes helpful also to be able to refer to the 
entire day s expenditures. 

As will be readily seen, the details of expenditures, 
when entered as above in the journal, are not easily 
referred to. One could at any time make a summary 
of any division which would show the amount spent 
for any one class of purchases, as clothes, rent or food. 
As a matter of fact, few seem to make such reviews 
when the accounts are kept in this way, finding it a 
seemingly endless task to assort the different items 
after they have become so thoroughly confused as 
they do in the journal account. In this way the great¬ 
est benefit of an account is lost. Their highest value 
is in one’s being able to bring each set of expenses 
together, so that comparison of different divisions may 
be made, and a proper proportion maintained. It is 
far better to transfer the details of an account to a 
second book, called a ledger, which may for conven¬ 
ience be divided into sections, each devoted to its par¬ 
ticular class of items. 

The number of credit accounts should be limited to 
as few as possible, usually to grocer, butcher and doc¬ 
tor. Frequent settlement of such accounts should 
he made. The family physician has too frequent occa¬ 
sion to comment upon the unbusiness-like way that 
family hills are allowed to accumulate from year to 
year without attention. If a physician is tardy on his 



HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTS 49 

side and does not present bills promptly he is usually 
agreeably surprised to have it called for, as it should be. 

The most complete and concise way of recording the 
facts to be preserved is to be found in the combination 
of journal and ledger, such as is illustrated in Table 
III. This will prove in the end to be one of the most 
convenient, suggestive and helpful arrangements yet 
devised. Opposite pages of an account book may be 
used, the left-hand page for the journal record, the 
right-hand for the ledger. The ledger items are 
classified under a few typical heads and'the amounts 
expended for each are entered apart from the whole. 
This tenders it very easy at any time to consult any 
one division, where all the record is clearly before one. 
The divisions used correspond to those suggested in 
the discussion of Division of Household Expenditures, 
page 21. These are optional both in character and 
number, but will in the main prove to be excellent 
general heads. Others may suggest themselves as 
desirable for an individual familv. Multinlication of 
details must be avoided as far as possible, to avoid 
confusion. Particulars as to prices paid may well be 
left to the pass books or bills of butcher or grocer, or 
in a separate memorandum book. 


Combination 

Journal 

and 

Ledger 


50 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Memoranda 


TABLE III 


Date of 

Receipts and 
Expenditure. 

Receipts. 

Expenses. 

Sum. 

Daily Total. 

1 

o 

o 

Car Fares and 

Rent. 

Operating 

Expenses. 

j Clothing. 

1 Higher Life. 

Sources 

Sums. 

1905. 











Jan. 1 

Cash in 











hand. 

$90.00 









“ 2 



Flour 

$4.75 


$4.75 








Dress Ma- 









terial... 

6.00 





$6 00 





Meat. 

1 25 


1.25 








Coal and 











Oil.. 

7.50 

$19.50 



$7.50 



“ 3 



F.ppfS 

1 10 


1.10 




* 




. 

Car Fares. 

.20 


20 







Washing.. 

1.00 

2.30 



1.00 



“ 4 

Salary 

150.00 

Rent. 

35.00 



$35.00 







Car Fares. 

.40 

35.40 


.40 




“ 5 



Groceries.. 

3.25 


3 25 








Meat. 

1.10 

4.35 

1.10 





“ 8 



Church 











Collect'n. 

1.00 

1.00 





1.00 


Total. 

$240.00 


$62.55 

$62.55 

$11.45 

$35.60 

$8.50 

$'6.00 

$1.00 


In carrying on weekly or monthly accounts with 
butcher, grocer or at dry goods stores various methods 
are employed for keeping a memorandum of the char¬ 
acter and size of purchases made. If slips are sent 
with the goods when delivered they should be pre¬ 
served on file, to he compared with the bill when ren¬ 
dered. Pass books are sometimes used. In that case 
the entries should be made in the oresence of the pur¬ 
chaser, to avoid error or deception. 

Household accounts should he balanced at least 
every week. A daily verifying with cash on hand is 


Balancing 
















































































HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTS 


5i 


easiest and saves time in the end. These daily bal¬ 
ances may be indicated in pencil as the aim is to prove 
the account to be correct, thus showing that no item 
* has been omitted. Every month’s accounts, should 
be balanced on the last day of the month and a new 
page opened for a new account for the next month. 
The first item on the new page should read as in 
Table II, “By balance brought forward-” 

One should set a time for the final balancing of 
accounts and opening a fresh record. This is usually 
done at the close of the calendar year, although 
another time might be more convenient, as the holiday 
season brings other extras demanding time. 

The facts to be preserved on a balance sheet are 
available after this summary of the year’s expenses 
is made. The purpose of a balance sheet is to preserve 
from year to year a statement of the final condition at 
the end of each year for helpful comparison. It may be 
that the income has not been sufficient to meet the de¬ 
mands upon it, when a deficit with appear. Or the in¬ 
come may be just enough to cover expenses, or there 
may be a balance of the credit side. A properly man¬ 
aged household will show a steadily increasing gain of 
this nature, provided no exceptional and unexpected 
bills arise such as result from long illness and the like. 

An example of a properly managed entry and a 
satisfactory showing is given in Table IV. 


Yearly- 

Balance 


Balance 

Sheet 





52 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

TABLE IV 



Cr. 

Dr. 

Income 'or year 1902. 

' 12,500 


Expense for year. . 


$2,250 

Balance in hand.. 


250 


52,500 

$2,500 


Card Index 
System 


The household accounts may be kept by means of 
the card index system, which is perhaps the best meth¬ 
od of keeping any and all sorts of records, such as 
addresses, invoices and miscellaneous memoranda. 



CARD INDEX BOXES. 


A small linen or pasteboard box containing a set 
of alphabetical guide cards and some two hundred 
ruled cards in sizes 5x3 or 6x4 inches may be pur¬ 
chased for'from fifty cents to a dollar. These cards are 
ruled horizontally and perpendicularly as in a cash 
book, or come without the perpendicular rulings. 
Various systems may be used. The most concise and 











HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTS 


53 


simple is invariably the best, and it may be so done 
as to make further entering in a book superfluous. 

One plan now being used is as follows: Under the 
letter C in the alphabetical index are three cards for 


\<)D5 

JAN. 

cash Received 


J 

Cash on honor 

5164 

6 

sa la ry * l[sg 

80.(70 

16 

From J. A/tfS,00 of books" 

14.00 

23 

•' Maaaxfne A/o vjrt/cle 

7. so 

F£ a 


153.14 

6 

Salary 

eo.oo 

20 

Extra work for Sterl/Wa 

10.00 



242.14 








CARD CASH ACCOUNT. 


cash, (i) an account of cash received, (2) an account 
of cash disbursed and (3) the cash balance. It may 
take a card for each month for Cash Received or not, 
depending upon the items. In the case cited the num¬ 
ber of cards used during the year for Cash Received 
was six, two months on each. 

Cash disbursed takes at least one card a month, 
possibly more if there are many classified accounts. 
The items on this card are the totals of items on single 
cards devoted to daily or less frequent purchases. That 
is, under the letter R, as indicated by the index at the 


Typical 

Method 


Cash Paid 
Card 




















54 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


right on the Cash Disbursed card, illustrated, is found 
the card “Rents' 1 with record of rental payments, when, 
to whom, and how paid, if by check or cash. Market¬ 
ing includes both the grocer's and butcher's accounts, 

hence the index letters G and B. These are itemized 

/ 


1905 

JAN. 

Cash Disbursed. 


1 

Rett/ U/7c/er R. 

/ 6.50 

2 

Gas 11 G. 

/. 70 

A- 

Alf/P. •• M- 

2.80 

3 / 

Serv/ces » Lfc. 

6.00 

99 

supplies " s. 

2J4 

» 

Carfare »» C. 

3.35 

*i 

Per sorter/ „ P. 

8.00 

n 

fr?c/e/ertta/s / 

1.25 

/» 

Mc7rUetwt7 .. g.vbtv. 

22.6 2 



64.36 


CASH PAID CARD. 



on the cards “Groceries" and “Butcher.” If the ac¬ 
counts are heavy it would be better to devote three 
cards to these items divided into groceries, meats, and 
vegetables. 

The illustrations will probably make the divisions 
clear, but these divisions are not arbitrary, the person 
keeping the household accounts can adapt her own 
system. 

If the housekeeper has a bank account a card should 
be devoted to this to check up with bank book and 


-¥■ 


Bank 

Account 

Card 

















HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTS 






55 


checks cashed and used for cash. This card should be 
as follows: 


1905 

JAM. 

Bank Account 


i . 

On hand 

582.10 


Deposited fr? January 

80.00 



662.1b 

Feb. 

Drew c/?ecks as oerfook 

33.02 

i 

Or? hand. 

62&S4 








• 









BANK ACCOUNT CARD. 


With this card system a weekly balance may be kept 
instead of the monthly balance as illustrated. The ac¬ 
counts are so arranged that items may be found or 
traced with ease. For instance if in comparing the 
January expenditures on the Cash Balance card, it is 
found that it is much more than for February, it is 
desirable to know why. We take the two cards of 
Cash Disbursed, the one for January and the one for 
February and compare the items. There it may be 
found that the gas bill in January was more than in 
February, that more car fare was used, and evidently 
some extra supplies purchased. By turning to the 
card devoted to Supplies, these may be noted and the 
extra amount used at once found. 


Ealance 

Card 






















56 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Advantages 


Filed for 
Reference 


The entire account, daily, weekly and yearly, is in 
compact form and if mistakes occur it is a more simple 
matter to destroy and make a new card than to fix a 
hook. Like any system of keeping accounts to be 
accurate and helpful this one demands promptness and 
accuracy in putting down items. 

In order to he of use from year to year in comparing 
the increase or lessening of expenses the accounts 
must be filed away for reference. A set of cards takes 
up not more than six inches in length, four in height 


1905 

JAti. 

Cash Balance (monthly 


1 

On hand 

51 .64 

TAN. 

Received 

to 1.50 

// 


153.14 

n 

Spent 

64.36 

FEB.i 

On hand 

88.78 

If 

Received 

90.00 

ft 


I78.7B 

it 

•SpenT 

53AZ 

MAH.i 

On hand 

125.36 


• 



CASH BALANCE CARD. 


and less than two inches space in thickness. The 
entire set can be put in a desk drawer or pigeon hole' 
ready for easy reference. Or if preferred a small 
tin or wooden box designed for such purpose and 
made the exact size, may he purchased for the filing 
away of the year’s accounts. 



















HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTS 


57 


l nless desired for some special purpose it is not 
necessary to save the entire itemized account for the 
year, for the weekly or monthly grocery, butcher’s, 
gas, milk and other accounts may he brought together 
each on a single card and kept with the cards devoted 
to the cash and bank accounts for future reference. 


1 905 
JAH. 

GRocEwfAcct. With Kolbe.'I 


4 

3 DOZ. e<jQS t&) 32 .<?6 54/115 

1.11 

6 

i Bottle vanilla. is 6 temonesA 

f .30 

7 

4 Lbs. Coffee 

1.40 

10 

i Box Oom/no suaar 

.so 

1/ 

4 Ups, fatter * 32 

128 

13 

1 

1 

! 

> 

.GO 

!6> 

3 " /arc/ .30 1 bu.pototOi 

■a UQ 

17 

12 0 ranges 

35 



394 

ie 

Pan/ by cfieck.No.4-2i 



GROCERY ACCOUNT CARD. 


The chief disadvantage of the card system outlined, 
in comparison with the book system, is that the cash 
balance on hand is not so easily ascertained. 

In any system, it is necessary to compare frequently 
the amount of cash actually in the purse (or purse and 
bank combined) with the balance as shown by the 
accounts. If this is not done there is usually an unac¬ 
counted for shortage which must be charged to “sun¬ 
dries,” “miscellaneous,” and the like—a most unsatis¬ 
factory procedure. 


Necessity 

of 

Balancing 

















Classifica¬ 

tion 






58 HOUSEIIOLD MANAGEMENT 

Alcott Stockwell, in discussing “The Keeping of 
Household Accounts" in the April, May and June 
(1904) numbers of The Home Science Magazine, 
gives three tables of classification which may be help¬ 
ful in suggesting headings for divisions ofi expendi¬ 
ture in the accounts. These are as follows: 


TABLE I 

Classification of Household Expenses. 


1. Housekeeping 

a. Provisions 

b. Ice 

c. Fuel 

d. Rent 

e. Dometic Service 

f. Miscellaneous 

2. House-furnishing 

a. General (including all fur¬ 
niture 


b. Kitchen and. Dining-room 

3. Library Supplies 

a. Books and Periodicals 

b. Stationery and postage 

4. Miscellaneous 

a. Sundries (expressage, flow¬ 
er for house, thread, etc.) 

b. Other (fire insurance, mov 
ing, telephone service, etc.) 

5. Gifts 


TABLE II 

Classification of Personal Expenses (in family). 


1. Clothing 

a. New clothing, Foot wear, 
and Furnishings 

b. Repairs to clothing and 
Foot wear 

2. Transportation (street car.rail¬ 

road, hack fares, etc.) 

3. Personal Services 

a. Toilet 

b. Medical 

c. Dental 

4 . Recreation 

a. Outings (including bicycle, 
pony, canoe, camera and sup¬ 
plies, etc.) 


b. Entertainment (may in¬ 
clude anything as medium of 
diversion, ns amateur pho¬ 
tography, musical instru¬ 
ments; 

5. Education 

a. Books, Stationery and Sup¬ 
plies 

b. Tuition and Lectures. 

6. Miscellaneous 

a. Sundries (soda water, con¬ 
fectionery, cigars, etc.) 

b. Other (any large expense 
not included) 


HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTS 


59 


TABLE III 

Classification of Personal Expenses (single individual ) 


1. Clothing 

a. New Clothing, Foot wear, 
and Furnishings 

b. Repairs to clothing and 
Foot wear 

2 . Board and Lodging 

3. Transportation 

4. Personal Services 

a. Toilet (shampoo, manicure, 
chiropodist, etc.) 

b. Medical 

c. Dental 

5. Library Supplies 

a. Books and Periodicals 

b. Stationery and Postage 
3. Recreations 

a. Outings 


b. Entertainments 

7. Education 

a. Books, Stationery and 
Supplies 

b. Tuition and Lectures 

8. Miscellaneous 

a. Sundries 

b. Others 


Total Expenses 

9. Gifts 

10. Investments 

a. Bank 

b. Other 

11. On hand at end of month 


In following these headings it would be well for 
Table I to include a division for investments, unless 
a separate small account book is left for these with 
such beading as: 

a. Savings Banks c. Real Estate 

b. Life Insurance d. Loans 

Charities and Church may be classed under gifts or 
investments, preferably the latter, as they indicate 
within proper limits the most commendable form of 
investment. 


Division 

for 

Investments 


THE BANK ACCOUNT 

Comparatively few women appreciate the advantage 
and convenience of having a bank account. There is 
a mistaken idea current that banks are solely for those 
who have a balance to invest. This is true only of 
savings banks; with this exception, the housewife 
may select the most convenient bank of whose financial 
soundness she is assured and open her account. In 
this way the bank becomes merely a temporary safe 
deposit vault, and checks, the easiest and safest way 
of making all except small cash payments. 

Having become identified, with her account accepted, 
the depositor is presented with what is called a pass 
book. This she keeps and presents with each amount 
of money to be deposited. The receiving teller makes 
a record of each deposit on the left-hand page of this 
book, and when the book is balanced from time to 
time a statement is inserted, on the right-hand page, 
of the amount drawn out and the balance remaining. 

In depositing, the housewife or her messenger fills 
out what is known as a deposit ticket, which is always 
to be found provided at the bank. If it is necessary 
or more convenient at any time to send the deposit by 
a messenger he should always fill out this blank in 
the name of the depositor, since it is not necessarily 
her signature, but merely a record of her deposit. If 
there be checks to be indorsed before depositing, that 
is a different matter. Those must be indorsed before 
delivering them to the messenger, and should be made 
payable to the bank; they are then payable only to the 


6 i 


THE BANK ACCOUNT 


bank. The deposit ticket i 
deposits in specie, bills ar 
ticket reads for gold and 
silver, instead of specie, 
as is seen in the following 
form, illustrating a de¬ 
posit ticket properly filled 
out for presenting to the 
receiving teller. This is 
handed in with pass book 
and deposit at the window 
marked “Receiving Tell¬ 
er,” where the deposit is 
counted and the amount 
compared with the de¬ 
positor's figures, checks 
examined to ascertain 
whether they have been 
properly filled out and in¬ 
dorsed and, last of all, the 
amount of the deposit is 
entered in the pass book, 
which is returned to the 
one presenting it. 

Checks, drafts, money 
orders can always he sen 


a printed form indicating 
checks. Sometimes the 

DEPOSITED IX THE 

JjijioB 8&3}k 

R y /3, 

-UorrisviHe.VL. /q / Vos 


F;grpl£ASE LIST EACH CHECK SEPARATELY, ; 


s 

Bills . .... ... 

Doflars 

£.0 

— 

Cents 

0~T? 

Cold _.. 



Silver . . ..... 


Y* 

Checks , . 

TkUejsfc&TZU 



/S 

o-rj 


oZ <r 


/ 



























TotalS 

0 



Deposit Ticket Properly 
Filled Out. 


orders or express money 
by mail for deposit with 


safety if properly indorsed. 


Depositing 
by Mail 




























Checks 


Indorsement 


f 


62 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Every depositor is presented with a check book. 
This is a book of blank checks, arranged either several 
on a page, attached by a perforated line to a side, 
which is called a stub, or, as in “pocket” check book, 
with a single check forming the page. In this case 



| r//sy///s' 12. /^TT' 6 66. 




™ v • !?9 R ' ■ 




K STS. ' 

o 






AVftxArl 5^).(jr-cca>iv- 


A CHECK FILLED OUT. 


pages are inserted between each second and third 
check, or between every check, upon which a record 
may be kept, as upon the stubs. A check is a written 
order, dated and numbered, directing the bank in 
which the writer's money is deposited to pay the sum 
stated to the bearer of the check, some person named, 
or to the order of the person indicated. 

This check is equivalent to the sum of money named 
upon it anywhere the rightful bearer presents it. It 
may be deposited, presented in payment of bills or 
cashed upon being indorsed. 

To receive the money on a check it is necessary for 
it to be indorsed by the person to whom it is made 
payable. To indorse a check properly it should be 
held by the upper left-hand corner, turned and the 















THE BANK ACCOUNT 


63 


name’ written across the back about 011-third down 
the length of the check. Other indorsements should 
follow the first, in order. The signature used in 
indorsing a check should always conform exactly to 
that on the face, even if that should by mistake be not 
correct. The simple signature across the back makes 
it possible for anyone to draw its value who may come 
into possession of it. For the sake of safety it is 
always well to limit the payment by making it payable 
to the order of anyone to whom it is desired to transfer 
it. It is best to observe this under all circumstances, 
unless one presents the check in person for cashing, or 
must send it to be cashed by someone not; known. It 
makes it impossible for it to be of any value to a 
chance finder should it be lost. Thus: 


John L. Bentley 


Pay to the order of 
Henry E. Johnson 
John L. Bentley 

Sinmle Indorsement. 



Sometimes a check is made out so that the payee’s 
name differs from that used in the bank. This will 
happen frequently with married women. I11 such case 
it is usually necessary to sign both names. For 
example, a check made payable to Mrs. Henry Couch 
would be indorsed “Mrs. Henry Couch,” followed by 
the proper signature, “Harriet B. Couch” underneath, 
since the given name of a depositor is preferred at 
the bank. 


Double 

Indorsement 




64 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Vouchers 


Over¬ 

drawing 


Counter¬ 

manding 


Stubs 


If for any reason one desires to draw cash on her 
own account it may be done by making out a check, 
using the word “Cash" or “Myself ’ in place of other 
name. 

A check eventually returns to the depositor's own 
bank, is paid, cancelled and returned to her when her 
pass book is balanced, as a voucher or receipt of pay¬ 
ment. The vouchers are perfect receipts of all pay¬ 
ments made by check. 

Care must always be exercised not to overdraw in 
checks the amount of one's deposit in the bank. When 
this is done one suffers the humiliation of having the 
bank refuse to honor the check, and the person infring¬ 
ing is open to the criticism of being unbusiness-like at 
least, and there is usually a small extra charge to pay. 

Should one desire to countermand the order of pay¬ 
ment on a check after it is issued the payment can 
usually be prevented by notifying the bank in suffi¬ 
cient time. 

Stubs are the inner margin of a check book, from 
which the checks are detached as used. Upon either 
these cr the inserted pages of the pocket check book 
data should be recorded concerning the check which 
is detached. Space is given for noting the data, num¬ 
ber of the check, amount, the name of the person to 
whom it is made payable and that for which it is given. 
These facts serve as guides in proving the vouchers 
when returned from the bank. Properly kept, the 
stubs indicate at a glance the amount still remaining 
in the bank. 


THE BANK ACCOUNT 


65 


From the preceding facts it will be seen that the 
bank may be made as valuable aid to the housewife in 
conducting her business as for anyone else who has 
exchanges to effect. By means of checks money may 


OATE, 190.5- DE POSITS. 


10 

■S 

xo 

HO 

00 

ou 

ou 

Mu~l 

( 


S 

a-f c 

U 

X 




S y 







Total Deposits. 

Diduct Chicks Drawn, Nos._ i 3 ^ 


n 1 

Ho 

Balance Forwaro, 


?7 

T/ 


Valuable 
Aid to the 
Housewife 



THE TWO SIDES OF AN INTERLEAVED POCKET CHECK BOOK. 

FOUR CHECKS TO A LEAF. 

he more easily and safely transferred than in any other 
way, since they can be enclosed in letters, if necessary, 
and they avoid the danger of mistakes in “making 
change,” or of loss of money. Since they may be 
made payable to a stated person only, if lost they are 
of little value to the finder. Even if lost after indorse- 





























































66 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Vouchers 

as 

Receipts 


Comparing 
Vouchers 
with Stubs 


ment, the payment may be withheld by notifying the 
bank. 

A check eventually becomes all the receipt necessary 
in paying bills, thus saving any further trouble of 
receipted bills. If checks are used entirely in pay¬ 
ments, the vouchers constitute a comparatively com¬ 
plete household account in themselves, but this is 
rarely feasible, as employees find checks an inconven¬ 
ient form of payment, since they are often not iden¬ 
tified so that they can get them cashed ; besides, checks 
are quite unknown to them, so that they are slow in 
appreciating them as money equivalent, and their 
hours are such as not to conform well with banking 
hours. 

The pass hook is important as a record of the 
depositor’s standing at the bank. That this record 
may be kept accurately, it is necessary to present the 
book with each deposit. The depositor is never at 
liberty to make entries in it herself; that can only he 
done by the receiving teller. The pass book should 
be presented when called for and should be balanced 
as often as once a month if a considerable business is 
done through the bank; even if the pass book is lost, 
the money may still be drawn out at will. 

Returned vouchers should always be compared care¬ 
fully with their stubs. Should there he any discrep¬ 
ancy between the balance as given by the bank and 
that shown in the check hook, one should determine 
whether this corresponds exactly with the amounts of 
any checks issued, but not returned. 


THE BANK ACCOUNT 


6 7 


Neither check nor pass book need affect in any way 
the household account book, except as they are made 
to be valuable aids. They form a very convenient 
department of the cash drawer, the cash in hand and 
cash balance in the bank together making up the sum 
total on hand. 

In some cases if a bank account is properlv kept 
it may serve as a fairly complete system of book- 



Bank 

Account 

Book¬ 

keeping: 


A CHECK WITH STUB ATTACHED. 


keeping in itself. In such a system it is necessary to 
deposit all money received, making careful record on 
the blank sheets of the check book of the date, amount, 
source, etc. Then all bills possible should he paid by 
check. The vouchers are a receipt in themselves. 
These returned checks, with the receipted bills, filed 
in an ordinary 25-cent bill file, give a safeguard 
against paying the same bill twice. All bills should, 
of course, be checked up before being paid. The stubs 
of the check book show for what the money was 
spent—so much for groceries, so much for the butcher, 
for gas, milk, rent, dress goods, etc. When cash is 
























68 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


necessary, as in paying employees or small incidentals, 
this can be drawn from the bank, or in some cases 
obtained from an obliging tradesman, who will 
exchange cash for checks. Memorandum should be 
made on the stub as to how the cash drawn is expend¬ 
ed, or, much better, a petty cash account can be kept in 
a book or on cards. At stated periods a summary may 
be made from the stubs and from the receipted bills 
as to how the money has been expended. 

Better This system is not to be recommended for those 
None who should look after the pennies carefully. The inci¬ 
dentals will be found to foot up to a surprising 
. amount and it is always better to pay cash for gro¬ 
ceries, meat, etc. However, such a system is better 
than none, and as it is practically automatic, it can be 
followed throughout the year with very little effort. 
The poorest system, kept accurately from year to year, 
• is better than the most perfect system kept only inter¬ 
mittently. 

Financially in a family which is properly organized financially 
0r Family there is a definite idea as to how the income shall be 
divided. A certain proportion is allowed for rent, 
food, saving, etc., as already indicated. Then each 
member of the family should have a personal allow¬ 
ance, to include definite expenses, of which a personal 
account is kept. As soon as a child is old enough to 
trust with 5 or to cents of its own he should be given 
such allowance regularly and taught how to spend as 
well as to keep account of expenditure. Only by 
experience can one learn how to spend wisely. 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


PART I 


Read Carefully* Place your name and address on the 
first sheet of the test. Use a light grade of paper and write 
on one side of the sheet only. Leave space between an¬ 
swers. Read the lesson paper a number of times before 
answering the questions. Answer fully. 


1. What do you understand by the terms production 

and consumption in economics? 

2. Compare their relative importance in Home Eco¬ 

nomics at the present time. 

3. What is true economy? 

4. What do you consider valid reasons for main¬ 

taining individual homes? 

5. (a) What do you understand by the term Stand¬ 

ard of Life? 

(b) How are you conscious of such a guide in 
your own life? Have you been conscious of 
your standard changing from time to time ? 

6. What value do you see in a Division of Income 

along some such lines as are indicated in the 
text? 

7. Comment upon the examples of both Typical and 

Ideal Budgets in the light of your own expe¬ 


rience. 




HO USE II OLD MAN A CEMEX 1 


8. What do you consider a desirable division of a 

salary of $1,500 a year, the family, occupation 
and location to be chosen as you please? Indi¬ 
cate clearly and fully both conditions and divi¬ 
sions. 

9. Estimate as nearly as possible the division of the 

income in your own household and criticise. 

10. Why are household accounts essential ? 

11. How many housekeepers of your acquaintance 

keep careful household accounts? Do you dis¬ 
cover any indications of greater success be¬ 
cause of it when compared with those who do 
not ? 

12. What system of account keeping do you find most 

usable? Give details. 

13. Explain “Balancing an Account.” 

14. What is meant by “Indorsing a check?” Illus¬ 

trate and explain value. 

15. (a) What are stubs? How valuable? (b) 

What are vouchers? 

16. In what lines of expenditure does there seem to 

he especial lack of thrift at the present time? 
Suggest causes and corrections. 

17. What do you consider the chief cause of the in¬ 

creased distaste for housekeeping among 
women and of the tendency to give up indi¬ 
vidual homes in favor of apartments ? How 
do you regard the change? 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

18. To what extent have any subjects which you 

studied during your school life been directly 
and practically helpful to you in your home¬ 
making experience ? 

19. Is there any additional training or subject which 

it seems to you might be profitably added to 
the curricula of our schools or colleges for 
young women? 

20. Have you gained any new or helpful suggestions 

for the more successful management of your 
home as a result of this study? If so, what? 

21. What additional suggestions can you make on 

any of the topics taken up in this paper as a 
result of your experience or study? 

22. Ask two or more questions on the subjects con¬ 

sidered in this lesson. 

Note. After completing; the test sign your full name. 


1 












' 








Household Management 


Part II 


# 


M Y 


£ 


Y M P H O N Y 

lO live content with small 
means to seek elegance 
rather than luxury, and 
refinement rather than fash¬ 
ion to be worthy not 
respedable to be wealthy, 
not rich ^ to study hard, 
think quietly, talk gently, 
ad frankly to listen to the 
Stars and birds, babes and 
sages, with open heart to 
bear all cheerfully to do 
all bravely, await occasions, 
hurry never in a word, 
to let the spiritual unbidden 
and unconscious, grow up 
through the common this 
is to be my symphony. 

William Ellery Channing 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

PART i;i 

I ' ' 

ORGANIZATION AND DIVISION OF LABOR 

Few things in life are more pathetic than a house¬ 
hold in which no organization exists, no systematic 
direction of activities, no appreciation of Heaven’s first 
law, order. The haphazard, aimless living in such 
homes leaves an unmistakable stamp upon the inmates. 
Without knowing it, the housewife in such a home 
suffers infinitely more friction, loss of time, strength 
and money than it would cost her to keep her house¬ 
keeping better in hand. 

To have sufficient system and organization so that 
one knows (i) what is to be done, (2) who is to 
do it, and (3) when is it to be done, is to have the 
' chief requisites for the successful working out of 
ideals, coupled with ease and comfort of mind. Apply¬ 
ing this knowledge each day, one may utilize whatever 
time is at her disposal for other enjoyments, conscious 
that she is not thereby neglecting what should ever 
constitute her first duty—the care of her home and 
family. It makes little difference whether it be the 
mother of several boys with limited means at her 
command or the woman who can afford to hire sev¬ 
eral helpers; there is keen pleasure and satisfaction for 


Order 


What 

Who 

Wher 


71 


72 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Requisites 


Brain Power 


Knowledge 


Health 


all in work so carefully divided that each has the 
gratification of knowing the importance of his portion 
and feels a commendable pride in his own contribution 
toward the' whole. This gratification may be made 
as real for the helpers as for the one for whom the 
work is performed. The joy of definite duties care¬ 
fully related to the whole, in contrast with the lifeless 
routine of ill-defined, meaningless details, appeals to 
the one as truly as to the other. 

Each thoughtful housekeeper finds her own best 
methods of accomplishing this organization. Some 
general suggestions as to necessary equipments may 
be an aid. Certain things are absolutely essential for 
success, such as the following: 

Brain Power with Mental Alertness and Activity. 
Method is impossible to one unwilling to contribute 
these. 

A Knowledge as to how to perform the details of 
housework in a superior manner. Unless one under¬ 
stands what is necessary in the preparation of a certain 
dish, or the length of time it ought to require to clean 
a room properly, it is quite impossible to direct it so 
that the requisite amount of time and strength shall 
be expended upon it, and no more. 

Health plays no small part. Much failure has poor 
physical conditions at the foundation. No truer 
criticism has been made of American women in een- 

. o 

eral than that of a leader in the study of home prob¬ 
lems, when she affirms that too many are content to be 


ORGANIZATION 


73 


“just able to be about.” Home is the place where 
suffering - resulting from this low standard is certain 
to be most keenly felt. Without excellent physical 
vitality, the cares of a house must, perforce, seem 
mountain-high. The exuberance of spirits of one full 
of life and energy is transmitted like an electric cur¬ 
rent to all who come in contact with it, and inspiration, 
each for his task, is the inevitable result. Very unfor¬ 
tunately, the reverse is equally true. Failure to 
possess the cheerfulness and optimism born of per¬ 
fect health creates conditions well suited to spread a 
contagion of a very depressing nature. Inability on 
the part of a leader to do his share is soon followed 
by a lessening of interest on the part of the helpers. 
A dropping off of punctual and hearty performance 
of duties results. 

Self-control is another necessity. Ability to think 
coolly and calmly, even under pressure, and to plan 
carefully and intelligently at all times, goes a long 
way in directing others. This characteristic is too 
often thought to be entirely a matter of temperament, 
beyond individual control. It is a great mistake. In¬ 
dividuals do differ in a marked degree, it is true, in 
the natural possession of it; nevertheless with good 
normal conditions of health, especially of “nerves,” 
that hane of woman’s existence, this virtue is as possi¬ 
ble of attainment as any other and well worth a strug¬ 
gle to secure. 

A large Sympathy, which appreciates the difficulties 


Self-Control 


Sympathy 


74 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Forethought 


Routine 


Written 

Notes 


encountered in doing the work, proves a priceless aid 
to the successful superintendent. 

Forethought is an important requisite. One must 
have in mind a broad survey of the work to be ac¬ 
complished. The outline of at least a w r eek at a time 
should be clearly defined to oneself, each day being 
assigned its special work in addition to a regular rou¬ 
tine preserved from week to week. In this scheme 
all work such as washing, ironing, sweeping, cleaning 
and the like will find a place, if these are all done in 
the home. The routine should not be infringed upon, 
unless extraordinary emergencies arise. A system 
broken is hard to restore, and something is sure to be 
crowded out, if postponed. Each day’s work should 
he so planned that the menu will be given to the cook, 
if one is employed, at least the day before, and market¬ 
ing will be attended to, so as to secure early and 
prompt delivery next morning. A careful mental, or 
better, written note should be made of all details liable 
to escape notice at the proper time. This avoids a con¬ 
fusion in the morning of being needed in several places 
at once, while the machinery will not be at a stand¬ 
still, waiting to be set in motion again. It avoids 
waste of time at a very valuable part of the day. The 
early hours count for much in starting the work so 
that tiring haste and over-pressure may be prevented 
later. If helpers know, when they arise, what the 
day’ s work is to include, they can plan to far greater 
advantage, saving time and strength. Written orders 
are a great help here. 


ORGANIZATION 


75 


Adaptability of means to ends is a thing that the 
would-be organizer may well study in successful busi¬ 
ness men. A business man's office is so arranged that 
it is to the highest degree labor and time-saving. It is 
compact, orderly, simple, with nothing unnecessary 
filling space. Every thing is at hand and adapted to 
make his work swift and easy. The successful work¬ 
man’s tools are good in quality, in perfect order, and 
so arranged that every motion counts. He knows that 
it is economy to have them so. How many of our 
kitchens would stand the test satisfactorily in these 
particulars? Most kitchens, pantries and laundries 
are so arranged that there is a prodigal waste of time 
and strength in passing from one thing to another. 
One should see to it that the cooking table is not on 
the side of the kitchen opposite the pantry of supplies 
or cooking utensils, and both as far as possible from 
the stove. A little trouble and perhaps no expense 
will often better conditions. 

It would seem far more ideal a condition than has 
yet been reached were it possible to give certain fixed 
standards for the division of the work of a house so 
that helpers going from one to another would find 
practically the same duties expected of them. To at¬ 
tempt such outline, would be too 1 azardous to under¬ 
take. Were housewives who employ, asked to define 
the duties of “second girl.” “nursery maid,” or even 
of laundress or cook, hardly two would be found to 
agree, so individual has been the assignment according 
to the particular needs of each household. One ex- 


Adaptability 


Division 
of Labor 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Diversity of 
lequirement 


Study 
the Only 
Solution 


The Right 
to Servants 


76 

pects assistance in one line of work, another in another. 
In one house the housewife rarely appears, gives no 
assistance and maintains the most formal relations 
with those employed. In another she prefers to direct 
minutely and to assist in the performance of portions 
of the work, attempting at the same time to make her 
helpers feel a home-like enjoyment of what she is 
able to provide them. Such diversity renders it im¬ 
possible to arrive at any general plan or division for 
each helper which shall be adapted to meet the needs 
of all who employ. 

Even in homes where several are employed some¬ 
thing of the same irregularity is found. A ‘‘second 
girl” at one place is expected to look after the door¬ 
bell, wait on table and do nursery work. Perhaps 
with her first change of place she is asked to assist the 
cook by preparing vegetables and does laundry work. 

The best guide at present is a patient, thoughtful 
study of the problems of one’s own house until as 
equitable and consistent division is attained as can be 
made, meanwhile praying for speedy release from a 
condition so unsystematic and chaotic as that of the 
present time, and resolutely setting one’s face toward 
the ultimate solution of some, at least, of the diffi¬ 
culties through better adaptation of household manage¬ 
ment to the demands of the age. 

A woman has no right to a servant until she knows 
the value of time and strength in relation to the work 
to be done. She cannot understand her servant’s prob¬ 
lems until she understands a servant’s duties. 


DOMESTIC SERVICE 


Even the most fortunate housekeeper recognizes in 
the present situation of domestic service a state of 
affairs sadly chaotic, perplexing and deplorable. 
Merely to cry out against it is futile and would be but 
adding to an already long list of complaints. The 
following pages are intended rather as an indicator of 
some indisputable facts, to be recognized and dealt with 
by would-be successful employers. 

Domestic service in the United States has passed 
through great changes in the last fifty years. Condi¬ 
tions, in some respects, were never like those in any 
other country. Until within a few years in New Eng¬ 
land and the Northwest whatever assistance was 
needed in performing the work of the household beyond 
that rendered by the members of the family was 
secured by employing a neighbor’s wife or daughter, 
who shared in all particulars the interests and privi¬ 
leges of the family in which she was employed. She 
was recognized in every way as an equal, sitting at the 
family table, sharing the common sitting room, often 
marrying into the family. While this continues to be 
true to a slight extent in rural districts to-day, there 
has been, generally speaking, an entire change, the 
present being a period of transition and reconstruction. 
The two factors which have had the greatest influence 
upon the domestic situation are immigration and the 
changes in the industrial system. 

77 


Chaotic 

Conditions 


Changes 


78 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Influence of 
Immigration 


Rural 

Supply 


Industrial 

Changes 


The influence of immigration upon domestic service 
has been more or less similar to its influence upon 
occupations for men. As the unskilled labor of the 
ignorant immigrant has entered into competition with 
the labor of the more skilled and intelligent native 
workers the native employes have progressed, pushing 
up and out into lines of work which have been deemed 
higher, more lucrative, pleasanter. This has happened 
in domestic service until very few native Americans 
can be secured for housework at the present time. 

Rural districts have suffered a surprising falling off 
in supply due to this change, as the immigrants tend 
to congregate in the large cities, especially those who 
come to us from the countries of the principal supply of 
domestics—Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Canada and 
Newfoundland—and the country girl has learned to 
seek the city also. 

Manufacturing industries have a large influence in 
determining the number of women engaged in domestic 
service in any city or community, as they seem to prove 
more attractive than housework at the present time. 
Whenever there is competition with other kinds of 
employment housework is inevitably the lesser attrac¬ 
tion. It is done, if at all, only when there is no other 
alternative; a last resort rather than a choice. It is 
not surprising, in the light of these facts, that the kind 
of service rendered by those who are engaged in it is 
not as satisfactory as it should be and that the stand¬ 
ards in the service are very low, with little apparent 


DOMHSTIC^ER VICE 


79 


spirit of emulation or progress. Let us consider the 
leading elements in the problem from the point of view 
of both employer and employee, seeking to ascertain 
the real and alleged causes of this marked preference 
on the part of employees, and if there are any remedies 
which may be applied to the immediate relief of the 
situation. 

If we turn to consider, first, the advantages of 
domestic service over other forms of labor open to 
women of the class thus employed, there are several 
decidedly advantageous conditions peculiar to the 
work. The conditions for preserving good health are 
superior to those in almost any other occupation. The 
work is normal, with greater variety, better provision 
of iight and pure air and more consideration in rase 
of temporary illness. Steady employment is afforded 
in work for the most part congenial to those who have 
any understanding of it. In spite of much said to the 
contrary concerning irregularity of hours, there is less 
rigid confinement than in most occupations. 

It affords more home life than other kinds of work, 
although this is in the home of the employer and is not 
considered as home life by the employee. The degree 
in which the employee is allowed or made to feel this 
differs greatly, as all know, with employers and, to 
a certain extent, the number of employees. That 
there is far less difficulty where there are many em¬ 
ployees is shown in the fact that the majority of state 
institutions have no difficulty in obtaining help of all 


Advantages 
of Domestic 
Service 


Home 

Life 


Disadvan¬ 

tages 


loneliness 


«• 


So HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

kinds. Even insane asylums, where the work is very 
hard, can actually make a choice of applicants for 
housework instead of having to seek for them. Even 
under the worst circumstances a certain sense of pro¬ 
tection and comfort is offered in connection with the 
work, and at its best the comforts and positive luxuries 
which surround the maids far exceeds those they could 
have in their own homes. 

In spite of these important advantages, the work is 
most universally unpopular. All are familiar with the 
reasons offered for this. Irregularity of hours is a 
point frequently urged. It is true that the hours of 
labor are so loosely defined in most households that 
employees have little sense of having completed the 
work of the day. This is true to some extent in well- 
regulated households on account of the nature of the 
work. Lack of system and care in this respect too 
often unduly increases the irregularity and makes what 
might be a reasonable amount of work unreasonably 
heavy. 

It is also true that the employee, although nominally 
in the family, is in no sense a part of it. This is a 
position infinitely lonelier than to be outside it alto¬ 
gether. Very few employes feel free to receive or 
entertain personal friends in a manner natural or 
pleasant to them, nor are they expected to do so. 
Attempts to secure personal improvement or pleasure 
are perhaps ridiculed. This is probably not inten¬ 
tional on the part of the employer, but seems to be the 




DOMESTIC SERVICE 81 

result of failure to appreciate the needs of the 
employees or to provide suitably for meeting them. 

Opportunities for promotion and advancement, 
which play a very important part in stimulating to 
effort in other employments, are almost wholly lacking 
in the present methods of conducting domestic service. 
The most that can be hoped for through a change is 
an easier place, a slight increase in wages, a pleasanter 
employer or some trival gain. The work is so ungraded 
that the unskilled, inefficient worker receives practically 
the same wages as the skilled and capable. 

Disparity in wages is sometimes offered as a reason 
for the choice of other work, but this is readily proved 
to be invalid. A comparison with the pay in any 
other form of employment would be favorable for the 
wages of the domestic employee at the present time. 
Wages differ greatly in different sections, vet they 
bear sufficiently close relation to other expenses so 
that general comparisons may be made. Miss Salmon 
in her admirable work on Domestic Service makes the 
comparison between the average wages received by 
the domestic employee and the school teacher. In this 
she clearly shows that, considering the fewer demands 
made upon the domestic employee in maintaining her 
position in contrast with those made upon a teacher, 
and also the many aids and comforts which are not 
easily measured in full money values, such as board, 
lodging, laundry and the like, the average wages of the 
domestic employee is higher by a generous margin. 


Promotion 


Wages 


82 


HO USEHOLD MAN A CEMENT 


Social 

Stigma 


Employer’s 

Standpoint 


The average salary of women teachers is $545 a year; 
$260 must be deducted for board and lodging- and $25 
for laundry. There is left $260 with which she must 
meet such necessary expenses as clothing, traveling, 
social obligations and working capital, as bboks, etc. 
If one considers in addition, as is certainly legitimate, 
the necessary outlay for training in the one case, in 
contrast with the low requirements in the other, it 
becomes very apparent that one must look elsewhere 
for an explanation of the great popularity of the one 
form of service and the unpopularity of the other. 

There remains a final objection, which is in reality 
first in importance and whiqji has more to do with 
keeping desirable helpers from choosing this kind of 
employment than any other. It is the reason invariably 
given first by those who express their feeling frankly 
and unreservedly. This is the social disadvantage 
experienced by those who engage in such service. This 
stigma is subtle, but very real in its resultant evils. It 
takes its rise in the false attitude of many employers 
toward housework, and the utterly false idea of what 
equality in this free American country really means 
by those whose limitations of ignorance or opportunity 
have led them to take a wrong view of the entire 
matter. 

When we turn to the employer’s point of view there 
is much to be said considering the unsatisfactory situa¬ 
tion. Taking the present-day employee into the home 
is attempting to introduce into the life there one who 
is of different nationality and who has little in common 




DOMESTIC SERVICE 83 

with the other members of the family from any point 
of view. Inheritance, former environment and experi¬ 
ences could hardly be more unlike in the majority of 
cases. There can be little expectation of accomplish¬ 
ing or even approximating perfect assimilation. 

As there is no opportunity, in the majority of house¬ 
holds, to rise in this employment, the desire for change 
or betterment finds lively expression and diversion 
through new places. As a result the employer is put 
to her wit’s end to cope with this tendency, and is 
often exasperated, and rightly, by her neighbor, who 
resorts to illegitimate means of influence by over¬ 
paying, and who ignores the fact that she is thereby 
only multiplying the difficulties. Much selfishness is 
revealed in the methods employed bv harassed employ¬ 
ers, who are often placed in so hard a position that it 
becomes a supreme test of character to decide what to 
do to secure and keep the needed help. The majority 
of employees are astonishingly oblivious to real present 
opportunities, so eagerly do they grasp after vague 
advantages through change. As a result, the average 
length of service in one place is less than one and a 
half years in cities, and in towns where the desire 
to go to the cities is strong it is still shorter. 

The ignorance of the average employee of the 
present time is profound and very exasperating, the 
more difficult to cope with because of the assumed 
intelligence in most cases. The perplexities and trials 
of being forced to employ untrained helpers for work 


Irresponsi¬ 

bility 


Ignorance 


\ 


8 4 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Summary 


Time 

Off 


which requires skilled labor car hardly be exagger¬ 
ated. That more of this crudeness is to be found in 
this line of work than in any other is indisputable. It 
is accounted for partly in the present failure to show 
appreciation of good work or to properly reward it. 
This is one of the greatest menaces to satisfactory 
service. 

These, then, are the objections to household service: 

» i , 

It provides no real social life; it takes the worker 
from her own home and places her where, however 
comfortable she may be, she is an alien, often losing 
caste among her friends, hence having no social place; 
it offers no incentive to rise, no spur to ambition, 
except that of personal pride or desire to please, and 
this, if not lacking in the first place, may cease, because 
there is no real competition. 

Also, it should be stated that all places are not com¬ 
fortable ; a cold, cheerless, illy furnished room cannot 
seem a rest or refuge after a hard day’s work. Work 
over a hot stove, however neatly done, certainly does 
seem to demand for the person engaged in it proper 
hot water bathing facilities. 

Fresh air is an essential to happy, healthy living. 
One afternoon weekly cannot enable the maid to store 
away sufficient fresh air to keep her through the fol¬ 
lowing six days. 

Simply from the selfish standpoint, that of getting 
the best work from the machine, reasonable fore- 
thought should be given, not only for the comfort, but 


DOMESTIC SERVICE 


85 


for the personal freedom of the employee. This 
means tha\ if the best work is expected from the 
worker an endeavor should be made to keep her in 
the best physical condition for that work. When the 
prescribed work is finished it is normal for anyone to 
desire to get out and away from the place in which 
she has been working. If a maid’s sitting room were 
or could be a part of every house there would not be 
the temptation to seek the street or a friend’s kitchen 
for rest and recreation. This sitting room is often an 
entire impossibility; it is frequently considered in that 
light because it entails a sacrifice of space or some 
expense. There is far too frequently an utter disregard 
of the actual condition of what may be termed the 
rolling stock of this business. It is economy to keep 
the machine well oiled, well repaired and well housed. 

Pleasant surroundings do much to lighten labor 
and make it attractive, whatever kind of work it may 
be. This fact large manufacturers and merchants 
have recognized and utilized to their great advantage. 
The housekeeper may learn the same lesson, and a 
maids’ sitting room may become the rule rather than 
the exception. 

Reasonable forethought entails a recognition of the 
fact that as there are now few standards of work or 
methods of doing it, so that the new cook or maid, no 
matter how well recommended or even equipped, has 
no idea of how you desire your work done or how you 
wish it systematized. Proper and sufficient directions 


Pleasant 

Surroundings 


Standards 
of Work 


86 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Written 

Directions 


Daily 

Outlines 


should be given and proper care that they should 
not be presented in a confused manner all at once. 
Perhaps they can be given best in writing, a type¬ 
written sheet placed in the kitchen or some suitable 
place and used for reference. To this can be attached 
the special direction for the following dav each night 
or afternoon, and the chances are this plan will aid 
very materially in the smooth running of the ma¬ 
chinery of the household. Such a plan need not be in 
too great detail, unless the maid be very untrained. 

Miss Parloa suggests such a daily outline in her. 
work on Home Economics , as follows: 

1. Make the fires, air the dining room and hall. 

2. Prepare the breakfast and set the table. 

3. Put the bedrooms to air while the family is at 
breakfast. 

4. Remove the breakfast dishes; put away the food. 
Sort the dishes and put to soak all dishes and utensils 
that have had food in them which is liable to stick. 

5. Put dining room and sitting room in order, airing 
them well. 

6. Wash dishes, put kitchen and pantries in order. 
Prepare dishes that require slow cooking and put them 
to cook. 

7. Make beds and put sleeping rooms and bathroom 
in order. 

8. Trim lamps. 

9. Dust halls and stairs; sweep piazzas. 

This plan is for a maid of all work, and naturally 
would be varied in many households, but indicates the 


DOMESTIC SERVICE 87 

idea. The more definite the work can he made, the 
better. 

Personal freedom for the maid means about what 
it does for the mistress; freedom to choose and have 
her own friends, to have them call and visit with her; 
to receive them without unnecessary and seemingly 
impertinent interruption or surveillance; freedom to 
come and go within reasonable limits without asking 
permission or giving explanation each time. In short, 
it is an application of the Golden Rule, and means 
such treatment as will insure the respect, if not the 
liking, of employee for the employer. This may seem 
revolutionary, actually impossible to many, and prob¬ 
ably is where there is a succession of unknown, un¬ 
tried, unreferenced maids passing through the kitchen 
every four to six weeks. This plan, however, has 
been tried with success in many places. 

In a small city in Northern New York, where the 
majority of people are in the maelstrom of the domestic 
situation, there is a family that secures help readily 
and whose maids remain with them until a proper rea¬ 
son, such as marrying, causes a change. The em¬ 
ployer in this case considers that she employs the maids 
to do the work, not simply to he in the house. When 
the work is finished the maids are at liberty. If two 
are in the house, one is expected to be ready to answer 
the bell; if one only is employed, there never has been 
trouble or even necessity of making any rule about 
this mooted point. This housekeeper has argued that 


Personal 

Freedom 


A Case 
in Pcir.v 


88 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Reorganiza¬ 
tion of the 
Home 


in general she would prefer to answer her own door 
bell and have the real work cheerfully, faithfully and 
well done, and that to get out of doors undoubtedly 
would be better for maid and work than staying in 
would be. This mistress has provided her maids with 
suitable reading matter for their leisure time, and 
shows that she is interested in the outside life of the 
girls without unduly interfering with it. In conse¬ 
quence she has good service, the maids are well and 
happy, and so is she, for friction is almost unknown 
in the running machinery of that home. Perhaps this 
should be noted, that in general the mistress does not 
have to answer the door bell, and manv little thought¬ 
ful services are performed for her not nominated in 
the bond. 

The real question is not the reason for the dearth 
cf good household workers, but what suggestions may 
be made to assist the housewife in this trying situation. 

In its ultimate effects the domestic situation of 
to-day will probably bring about a reorganization of 
ibe home. This is to be hoped and desired, if that 
»corganization means raising the work of the home 
to its proper position as a recognized business affair, 
whose director is required, to have a knowledge and 
skill somewhat commensurate with the issues at stake, 
the interests involved. It is absolutely necessary that 
the director of the home should know and be trained 
for her business if she is to demand and obtain skill 
and training in those she directs. The recognition of 
this need is the first great step toward reform. 


DOMESTIC SERVICE 


89 


The second is the acknowledgment of the fact that 
in general the housekeeping of to-day is run on an 
antiquated plan, one not even fulfilling the needs of 
an earlier generation and entirely inadequate to cope 
with the tendencies of to-day. The plan has to be 
changed. No progress will be made if women spend 
their time in bewailing the present condition only; we 
must put our wits to work to better it. 

These, then, are suggestions: First, that there 
should be more universal effort made, particularly 
in communities where clubs discuss these things, 
to secure certain just standards of work to be done 
for a certain just wage. The work of each household 
should not vary between unknown limits and the 
wages still be the same in each. 

Co-operation in establishing standards of work is 
much needed. Why should the cook who prepares 
three elaborate meals daily for a family of six adults, 
who often entertain, be paid the same wages as the 
cook next door, who prepares simple meals for three 
people who live most quietly and rarely have a guest ? 
Workers in factories and stores at least are governed 
by the same number of hours. Just as the life, num¬ 
bers and demands of different families vary, so does 
the work vary. A standard of wage cannot he estab¬ 
lished without a corresponding standard of work. 

Secondly, that housekeepers should bring themselves 
to a willingness to adopt the hour plan, the worker 
coming in, and work being done and paid for by the 


Suggestions 


Establish 

Standards 


Work by 
the Hour 


90 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Expense 
of the 
Hour 
Plan 


An 

Actual 

Experience 


hour according to kind or skill involved in accom¬ 
plishing it. 

The immediate objections to this plan are, first, its 
expense, and then the seeming strain upon the house¬ 
keeper, who must either piece out or piece together 
this patchwork scheme. Then arises the question: 
“Where shall we get the workers?" for in many places 
this is a problem. 

As to expense, in only a few cases has it been com¬ 
pared, hence there is a lack of sufficient data. In 
general it may be computed in this way: Take first 
into account the wages of the maid or maids, add 
board and what may be called room rent, including 
light, etc., used. One family living in the West has 
carefully kept account of the expenses with and with¬ 
out a maid and have concluded that in general a maid 
of all work costs $5 a week above her wages. This is 
higher than Mrs. Abel’s estimates, which were based 
on the actual experience of a family of seven. 

The family lived in a small town in New York, and 
consisted of five men and boys and two women. These 
estimates are the comparison of two successive sum¬ 
mers. In both cases the laundry was done outside, 
hence has no place in the comparison. 


Expense 
of the 
Hour 
Plan 


An 

Actual 

Experience 


First Summer. 


Wages of maid per week 

Hoard per week. 

Rent of bedroom. 



$6.00 






DOMESTIC SERVICE 


9 i 


The exact amount of room rent could be known, as 
the house was too small for the maid and a room was 
rented outside for her. 

Second Summer. 

(Work done by the hour.) 


Dishwashing-, two and a half hours for six days 

(fifteen hours). $1.50 

Cleaning (15 hours). 1.50 

Dinner service, three hours for six days (eigh¬ 
teen hours). 1.80 

Sunday dinners at hotel, seven, at 25 cents (less 

estimated cost of food material).88 


$5.68 

From these and other data it might be determined 
that in general a maid costs her wages; that is, if paid 
$5.00 a week, the conditions are such that the probable 
cost for her board and lodging is $5.00 also; if paid 
$3.00, it cost another like amount for her “keep/ 7 
T11 Chicago so many of the very good apartment 
houses are constructed without accommodation for 
maids that the hour plan is popular. The general con¬ 
census of opinion is that the hour plan is less, not 
more, expensive, and has advantages not reckoned in 
dollars and cents. By those who have tried it the 
advantages of the hour system are stated to be that 
the work is in general better and more rapidly done; 
there is not such waste of material, and that the free¬ 
dom from the responsibility and presence of an actual 


In 

Apartments 







92 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Where to 
Obtain 
Workers 


Natural 

Progress 


alien in the house, especially in an apartment, is incal¬ 
culable. 

The question of where to get these workers remains 
to be solved. That is a very individual one, belonging 
to the conditions of each city or town. As club women 
take this up, bureaus such as the Household Aids 
Company of Boston will be established, and even now 
from guilds and industrial unions, often from bureaus 
of charity, such workers are easily obtainable. 

One young woman in Brooklyn, after desperate 
times with incoihpetent help, advertised for a married 
woman with children who could leave her home for a 
certain number of hours a day. She obtained a refined 
woman in reduced circumstances, untrained for any 
definite work, whose experience made her of the great¬ 
est assistance. She goes to the house for a stated 
number of hours each day to care for the babies, while 
the mother performs her social duties. This mother 
does her own cooking, having the dishwashing done 
by the hour. The expense is lessened, her home is 
charming, she feels she is leaving the children in safe, 
“grammatical,” understanding hands, and she has 
leisure for profit and pleasure, for the higher life, 
which she says she never had in the old plan, even 
with a smaller family. 

We must realize that natural, industrial progress 
has taken one by one from the home the occupations 
formerly carried on there, until housekeeping no 
longer means the making of many things, but the 
proper expending of money for things already made. 


DOMESTIC SERVICE 


93 


We should not resist this tendency, but recognize and 
fit into it. 

It must be remembered that the sanctity of the home 
is not preserved by the industries carried on there. To 
preserve one home at the expense of several others is 
neither economic nor ethical. When clubwomen talk 
about the sanctity of the home they should ask the 
question, “Whose home?" 

Mrs. Mary Hinman Abel, who is a close student 
and a wise observer of economic conditions as they 
affect the home, says that the solution of present 
troubles must come m part from reducing the kinds of 
work done in the home. This is along the line of 
industrial progress as well as that of the least resist¬ 
ance in this case. 

The laundry is disappearing from the house, follow¬ 
ing soap and candle making. True, there are many 
more poor laundries than good ones, but that there 
are good ones, and that these have been run with a 
profit, proves there can and should be more. 

The establishment of laundries is one step, and a 
perfectly possible one. A well-educated Southern 
woman, after taking a course in household science at 
a Northern institution, started a laundry in a Northern 
city. The work was entirely done by hand and a fair 
price charged for it. She supervised the work and 
employed competent people to do it. It paid well in 
every sens& for both owner and patrons. Alien cir¬ 
cumstances forced her to lay aside the work her 
customers were as homeless people; they had no other 


Sanctity 
of the 
Home 


Establishment 
of Laundries 


94 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Good 

Employment 

Agencies 


The 

Future 


place to go. What one woman has done other women 
can do, and it should be emphasized that this woman 
was well born, delicately brought up, educated and a 
Southerner, with the inevitable shrinking from labor 
outside that such a bringing up entails. She says that 
her patrons became her friends, that work she took 
up with shrinking became really delightful, simply 
because it was well done. 

Another step is the establishment of more properly 
run employment agencies. Too many cases are known 
of employment agencies that encourage their maids to 
change often, to the end that they may gain additional 
fees. Employment agencies where references are 
required and looked up, where the maid is actually 
investigated and known as well as the housekeeper, 
where honesty is considered not only the best but the 
only policy are not castles in Spain. They can be 
established, supported and run by women and women’s 
clubs. 

Whatever solution the future may hold, employers 
are beginning to realize that it is not through greater 
individual indulgences, more equality or higher wages 
that the problems are to be solved. Employees do 
not ask to be admitted to the family circle. Self- 
respecting helpers would not feel comfortable were 
this provision made, nor is it a practical way of 
removing the difficulty. What they desire as a class 
is, rather, the opportunity of independence which offer 
forms of employment afford and which is missed in 
this—a chance to perform their work and, apart from 




DOMESTIC SERVICE 


95 


that, to live their own lives in their own way. 

However desirable any opening or advantage, the 
spirit of liberty demands that it be chosen rather than 
forced upon one. What domestic service is really 
claiming for itself is some adjustment whereb) definite 
hours shall be secured, and, outside that, free choice of 
amusement, personal improvement, friendships— life. 

This, when secured, will prove one of the most 
reasonable and satisfactory aids to the solution of 
difficulties of both employers and employees. The 
final adjustment to the same basis as all other indus¬ 
trial and business activities will be a work of time, no 
doubt, but it seems to be the inevitable goal. 

As employers and the world at large grain and keep 
in mind a truer conception of the importance of house¬ 
hold employment in the economic world there will 
follow better practical results. As long as employers 
express scorn of these duties little can be hoped for in 
the way of “dignifying labor” in the home. The 
efficiency of the housework cannot be expected to rise 
above that of the mistress as manager. There is deep 
significance in the words of one who wrote : “To know 
the workman one must have been a workman himself, 
and, above all, remember it." The housekeeper must 
know the household affairs and respect them if she 
would have others do the same. 

There are some experiments being carried on at the 
present time that all should follow with interest. 
These go far to prove that the preceding statements 
are not without foundation. Notable among these is 


Definite 

Hours 


Industrial 

Basis 


Dignity 
of Labor 


96 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Household 

Aid 

Society 


the attempt which has been made in Boston to create 
an attractive home center for helpers, from which they 
go each day for a definite number of hours for employ¬ 
ment in various homes which desire their services. 
The helpers are classified and graded, as already sug¬ 
gested, according to efficiency, the wages paid corre¬ 
sponding to the degree of skill attained. There is 
adequate stimulus to advancement,- as instruction is 
given at the home center. The home life is natural 
and congenial, every attempt being made to enhance 
the wholesome pleasure to he derived from such a 
place. The rapidly increasing popularity of the experi¬ 
ment shows that no mistake has been made in the 
diagnosis of the employee's point of view. For the 
employer there is the difficulty of arranging the work 
to fit such a plan so that the desirable work shall be 
secured at a price not exceeding the expense of resi¬ 
dent help. This is a difficult thing to do, a thing not 
yet accomplished, hut which the ingenuity of woman 
will yet solve. Without doubt k will mean the simpli¬ 
fying of life in some homes, but if this is wisely 
arranged it will be a gain rather than a loss. 


BUYING SUPPLIES 


Women, as a usual thing, spend such small sums of 
money at a time in their purchases for the house, that 
they are apt to lose sight of the size of the total amount 
expended in a year. Not realizing the value of the ag¬ 
gregate it follows that they hesitate and study returns 
far more carefully and intelligently in investing one 
hundred dollars in any other way than in placing the 
same amount in household supplies. Those who real¬ 
ize the importance of economic buying follow cur¬ 
rent prices and buy when the market offers the best 
inducements. The difference in time expended in ex¬ 
ercising this care is not as great as is fancied. Watch¬ 
fulness and interest count chiefly. There are times of 
legitimate annual or clearance sales when real bar¬ 
gains may be secured. These should be watched for 
and taken advantage of in buying yearly supplies of 
things which may be safely stored. If the articles to 
be purchased are such as suffer from the competition 
of “style” one is especially enabled, with a slight sac¬ 
rifice of style to quality, to reap a rich harvest at the 
expense of the foolish of the world who must have 
the very latest fad at whatever cost. The extremes 
of fashion are folly economically, in that they make it 
impossible to realize nearly the value of money ex¬ 
pended. 

There is only a small range of supplies in which 
there is a marked style. Individual preference controls 

97 


Relative 

Importance 


Legitimate 

Bargains 


Buying in 
Quantity 


98 


HO US EH OLD MA NA GEMEN T 


Small 

Quantities 


Storage 


in the selection of most, so that when one has de¬ 
termined upon the most desirable brand, variety, etc., 
there are left but three things which must be weighed 
in deciding the amount to be bought. These are (i) 
room for storage, (2) ready money for the purchase, 
and (3) the perishable nature of the article. The 
economy of buying in quantity must, necessarily, de¬ 
pend to a large extent upon these points. When these 
can be satisfactorily met there is great advantage in 
buying in quantity. Thereby one has the advantage of 
wholesale prices or great reduction over retail prices 
on quantities not too large for a moderate-sized fam¬ 
ily to dispose of 'within desirable limits of time. 

The family that finds it necessary to buy its supply 
of coal by the fraction of a ton and flour by the pound, 
suffers great loss through the increased expense, pav¬ 
ing often very nearly twice as much as the same grade 
would cost in larger quantity, and with no gain since 
these products gain in value rather than lose, by stor¬ 
age. Buying in small quantities at retail means pay¬ 
ing a generous profit for grocer or messenger boy’s 
wages in delivering the small amounts. Again, one 
suffers from having to look her supplies over fre¬ 
quently or has the annoyance of finding something 
missing when wanted. 

The changed conditions of modern life from those 
of our grandmothers affect our habits in regard to 
storing supplies. Now that a large number of homes 
are rented, each room counting and swelling the 



BUYING SUPPLIES 99 

monthly bill, it has naturally led to economy of space. 
The uncertainty of residence with some has its effect 
also, as the expense of moving is increased by quantity, 
and the danger of injury and breakage all have to be 
reckoned with. One great misfortune which results 
from these considerations is the inclination to turn to 
cheap grades which are more readily disposed of at 
such a time or cause less regret if injured. Thereby 
we are losing some of the refining influences of acquir¬ 
ing and possessing the best. This applies especially 
to furniture and utensils, which ought to be bought 
as though they were to last a lifetime. 

There is a happy medium between the huge chests 
of linen in former time which held supplies not used 
for years, yellowing with age, and the modern ten¬ 
dency of hand-to-mouth provision, satisfying only the 
weekly demand. There should be always a small 
emergency store of linen. Additions can be too easily 
made to require that it be very large. In fact, since 
it may be added to, usually, any day, the principal 
gain is realized by being able to buy better at certain 
seasons, as in January, than others, and the same 
reduction in price by buying in quantity may be real¬ 
ized in this as in groceries. Dish toweling by the roll 
at 13^2 cents instead of 15 cents a yard, sheeting by 
the web or piece at a similar reduction, etc., are illus¬ 
trations of the benefits to be derived through such 
methods of buying. An especial reason for buying 
table linens in January, in addition to any attractive 


Medium 

Purchases 


100 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Storage 

Requirements 


prices which may be found at that time, is that the 
fresh supply of goods is in then and one may so 
secure a better selection. For storing linens a special 
cheist or linen closet is very desirable and should be 
included in planning a house, but when not provided, 
an ordinary closet may be used, drawers, a trunk or 
a home-constructed box, any of which answers every 
purpose if well cared for. 

For storing groceries the requirements are a light, 
dry, cool room, as near the kitchen and pantries as 
possible. It should be supplied with lock and key, 
which the housekeeper or a trusted helper controls. 
Large quantities may so be put into it and smaller 
portions given out as needed for use. This is both 
an aid to economy (since the tendency is to use more 
liberally if there is a large amount at hand) and 
prevents such supplies as baking powder, tea, spices, 
etc., from losing in value through standing open. A 
year’s supply is usually as large an amount as it is 
well to buy at a time. This is especially true of 
canned goods. These should be bought in the fall 
after the fresh supply is in market. By the dozen, or 
better yet, by the case of two dozen, canned goods 
may be secured at a reduction of from ten to twenty- 
five per cent. The same is true of the pack¬ 
ages of cereals, although for small families cereals 
cannot be used rapidly enough to buy in large quan¬ 
tity. It will be found to be well worth while for those 
of limited space to attempt to make space somewhere 
for some storage room. With a large number of 


i K « 


BUYING SUPPLIES 


IOI 


families that are not cramped for room it should be a 
'matter of more consideration to utilize a portion for 
this purpose. 

It is only the very poor who have an excuse for 
being too limited in ready money for such advance 
purchasing. It is but thrifty to see to it that there 
is at least a small capital which may be used for such 
advantage. When once started it is a simple matter, 
since after that the woman of forethought will look 
ahead and plan so that the funds will be at hand as the 
supply-time comes around. Of course there is no 
economy in buying at a reduction a supply which is 
so rapidly perishable in nature as to cause a loss of 
enough to off-set, or more, the gain through getting 
in large amount. This is but a waste of time and 
energy as well as money. Vegetables are much 
cheaper by the bushel or barrel, and fruit, as oranges, 
by the box, but one must have a cold storage room to 
insure the safe keeping of either for any length of 
time. Even then there must be care in looking them 
over frequently to remove any that are decayed. For 
most families, therefore, it proves more satisfactory to 
buy perishable articles as needed. 

A great difficulty confronts the would-be-wise buyer 
to-day in the fact that it is hard to establish standards 
of quality without some sad experience. When the 
housewife manufactured her own soap she knew be¬ 
yond a question what constituted an excellent article. 

’ Through handling different kinds of cloth, in weaving 


Ready 

Money 


Perishable 

Supplies 


Quality 


102 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Remnants 


Utensils 


or sewing, standards were created in that direction. 
Ignorance of real value makes the thriving “bargain 
counters” possible with their “remnants" cut from the 
webs on the shelves and offered at a price equal or 
even in excess of that for which the same goods may 
be bought by the yard elsewhere in the same store. 
Shrewd, not over-scrupulous merchants are bound to 
take advantage where it is possible, and the ignorant, 
unsuspecting purchaser pays a dear price for his or 
her ignorance. 

In buying utensils the maxim, “The best is the 
cheapest,” is an excellent one to bear in mind. One 
who makes a trial of different grades has ample oppor¬ 
tunity to prove its truth. Cheap goods often increases 
the expense ioo per cent, while at no time does one 
secure anything of the satisfaction in use that is 
secured in the better class goods. Cheapness means, 
perforce, haste or flaw in manufacture. This results, 
naturally, in ill-shaped, defective ware. Durability 
seems to be a thing no longer estimated, so little does 
it enter into account in manufacture or purchase. No- 
where is the difference more marked than in kitchen 
utensils. Spoons with soldered or riveted handles, 
ready to part company with the bowls on the first real 
test of strength or heat, are poor economy. The same 
is true of the enamel ware which crackles and chips 
off with the first accidental heating or “sticking on” 
of food, after which it is unfit for use. So one might 
enumerate many illustrations of false eeonomv of this 



BUYING SUPPLIES 


103 


nature. It is the part of wisdom to pay a little more 
at the time and thus secure better wearing- qualities 
and far greater satisfaction. The cheapest is rarely 
wise. 

On the other hand, a medium-priced article in many 
things has real worth to recommend it to one prac¬ 
tising close economy. In such purchases as bed or 
table linen and toweling, for example, the difference 
between a medium and high-priced grade may repre¬ 
sent the difference between hand work and machine, 
between embroidered or hemstitched articles and 
plainer. Since this is not a question of durability, a 
purchaser has a legitimate right to weigh the differ¬ 
ences in the light of her allowance and decide in favor 
of the plainer if it be wiser. It should, however, 
always be a decision based on an intelligent considera¬ 
tion of values. One should never be at a loss when 
detecting coarse, loosely woven and shoddy fabrics 
or other evidences of cheap work. Other differences 
she may be. justified in weighing, never that. 

One may purchase most supplies either in a depart¬ 
ment store or in one devoted to a single or limited 
line of goods. There is, on the whole, a difference 
to be found both in quality and price of the stock in 
the two places. The grade of goods in the specialty 
store is usually better and the price somewhat higher. 
The department store has gained great popularity 
because of the convenience of purchasing everything 
in one place and because of competition in prices 


Medium 

Priced 

Articles 


Department 
and Specialtj 
Stores 


104 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Classes of 
Supplies 


“Must Haves” 
id “May Haves” 


which seem at sight to favor trading there. The 
careful buyer will frequently find the difference in 
price more than equalized in the quality of the pur¬ 
chase. This is especially noticeable in kitchen fur¬ 
nishings. The sharpness of the competition has tend¬ 
ed to lower prices in the specialty store as far as the 
quality of the wares will allow. 

Supplies may be classed as (i) furnishings or 
utensils which are subjected to wear and consequently 
must be replenished from time to time, as furniture, 
bedding, carpets, kitchen, laundry and dining-room 
furnishings; (2) such supplies as are consumed in 
one way or another and so must be replenished, as 
fuel, food, soap and the like, and (3) such miscel¬ 
laneous supplies as daily newspapers, magazines, 
plants, flowers, etc. 

In buying these supplies one may divide them into 
essentials or “must haves" and accessories or “may 
haves." The first division one must secure at once. 
It is well to leave the second list to he remodeled 
after one has lived in a house for a while. 

It is surprising to one who has some experience 
like camp life to find how few the absolute essentials 
really are. Many accessories have come to be looked 
upon as “must haves” through long use. The evi¬ 
dence of some utility in everything, together with' 
refinement of taste in every selection, are the creat 
essentials in giving a home the subtle charm and 
comfort which we covet. Furnishings need not be 
many in number nor elaborate in quality to satisfy 



A BUTLER’S TRAY ON WHEELS 
Photograph Furnished by a Massachusetts Student of the A. S. H. E. 


4 












» 









































BUYING SUPPLIES 105 

these requirements. The greater the simplicity the 
more satisfactory, usually. 

The following are lists of kitchen, laundry, dining¬ 
room and bed-room furnishings, with average prices. 
The amount of equipment required is determined by 
the size of the family and its demands. For two peo¬ 
ple of simple tastes the kitchen utensils may be quite 
limited and the dining-room furnishings few. The 
same things are required in bed-room fittings as for a 
large family, but not in such numbers. 

KITCHEN UTENSILS 


Range. 

Coal hod.. 

Shovel, poker, lifter. 

Towel rack. 

Teakettle. 

3 Stew pans, 1 quart to 8 quarts ... 

Frying pan. 

Double boiler. 

Broilers, lish, meat and toaster 

Frying basket.. 

Muffin pan. 

Colander. 

Coffee pot. 

Tea pot.. 

Chopping knife and bowl. 

Meat chopper. 

Strainers. 

Bread pans, 2 or more. 

Bread board. 

Meat board. 

Rolling pin.-.. 

Flour sieve.. 

Scoops for flour, sugar, meal, etc.. 

Pans or basins, 2 or more. 

Bowls, about five in assorted sizes 

Dishpans. 

Drainer. 

Dish cloths. 

Floor and stove brushes.. 

Broom. 

Dustpan . 

Meat and bread knives. 

Case knives and forks. 

Vegetable knives. 

Dripping pan. 

Egg beaters 2, Surprise and Dover 


$30.00 and up 
.75 
.50 

i:2 up 
.75 to *3.50 
. 60 up 
1.50 *• 

.90 

.20 to .35 
.50 tip 
.10 '• 

1.25 “ 

75 “ 

75 

1.00 up 
.10 *• 

.50 

.50 


.50 


.25 to 1 

.00 

.10 “ 

25 

.10 “ 

.50 

.30 up 


.75 “ 


.10 “ 


10 ‘* 


.25 


50 


.25 


75 up 


.90 


20 


1.00 


50 



Lists 






































Prices 


Estimate 


106 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

KITCHEN UTENSILS (Continued) 


Graters.;.35 

Measuring cups.25 

Lemon squeezer. 10 

Plates, granite. 40 

Skewers. 25 

Spoons. 1.00 to 3.00 

Bread box. .75 up 

Hand basin for sink. 30 

Funnel.10 

Vegetable or pudding dishes, 2 or more.50 up. 

Potato masher.25 “ 

Garbage pail. .75 “ 

Refrigerator. . . 15.00 


Receptacles for flour, sugar, cereals, spices, condiments, 
molasses, etc. 

Chairs, stool, table. 


The utensils on above list may be considered “must 
haves.” The prices of the various things vary within 
quite wide limits, as will be seen. The housekeeper 
should know enough of the materials composing uten¬ 
sils to guide her in the choice of material and price. 
This she cannot know without some knowledge of 
the action of the ordinary acids and alkalis used in 
cooking and cleaning operations on tin, iron, porce¬ 
lain, agate, etc. To the list first given may be added 
many other things, many of which would be “must 
haves” in some kitchens. 

A fair estimate for fitting a kitchen with utensils 
given is from $35.00 to $40.00, including refrigerator, 
but not including range. $100.00 is not too large a 
sum to apportion to proper kitchen fittings if the range 
he included, and it is desired to begin with enough 
good utensils to make the work easy. 















BUYING SUPPLIES 


io 7 



Salt Box- 



Meat Chopper 



Sink Strainer; keeps garbage 
from clogging sink and pipes. 




Slaw Cutter, knife adjustable to 
cut fine or coarse* 



Household Scales 


SOME “MAY HAVES” IN KITCHEN UTENSILS. 




















































108 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

LAUNDRY EQUIPMENT 


Tubs, I or 2. 

soapstone. 

Washboard. 

Wringer. 

Boiler. 

Pails, 2 or more, “ Fibrotta ”. 

Baskets, 1 or 2.. 

Dipper. 

Soap dishes. 

Clothes stick. 

Clothes line and reel for same..*. 

Clothes pins, 1 gross. 

Skirt board. 

Bosom “ ... 

Whisk. 

Sad-irons, 3 at least. 

Iron stand or asbestos mat. 

Holders. 

Clothes horse. 

Small vegetable or nail brush. 

Scrubbing brush. 

Ironing sheet. 

Blanket or felt. 

Watering pot. 

Average Estimate.$18.00 


$3 00 

7.00 or $8.00 each 


.25 to 

.50 

2 75 “ 

4 50 

1.75 “ 

3.00 

.50 


1.25 to 

2.50 

. 15 


. 15 


.10 


.50 to 

1.10 

. 25 u p 



1.25 - 
.25 
.10 
.60 
15 
20 
.75 
.10 
15 
.30 

1.00 up 
.15 “ 


ADDITIONAL UTENSILS FOR SEPARATE LAUNDRY 


Stove. $8.00 to $25.00 

Coal hod.25 “ .75 

Shovel, poker lifter.25 

Basins, 2.50 

Saucepan or kettle for starch.50 

Strainer.10 

Pans or tub for starch .30 

Earthen bowls, 3 or more.30 

Wooden or agate spoons, 2.30 

Table or laundry settle. 2.00 to 6.75 

Case knife.15 

Broom or floor brush.■..50 “• 2.00 

Small brush. 50 

Dustpan.25 

Scrub brushes, 2. 30 

Chair.70 


Total Estimate, liberal.$40.00 

“ “ fair. 4.00 to $5.00 














































BUYING SUPPLIES 


109 


LAUNDRY SUPPLIES 


Soap, - hard, and 
| sand. 

Borax .07 per lb. 

Washing soda .08 “ 

Chloride of lime. .10 “ 

Alum.07 “ 

Paraffin or Spermaceti.15 “ 

Beeswax (pure).35 “ 

Gum Arabic.50 “ 

French ball blue or ultramarine.25 “ 

Ammonia (pttre).25 per qt. 

Alcohol. .40 

Kerosine.09 to .15 per gal. 

Hydrochloric acid.10 oz. 

Acetic acid. 10 “ 

Oxalic acid (crystals).05 “ “ 

Starch.10 “ pkg. 


Salt 

Sandpaper 

Bags for boards, line and pins 
Bags for small articles in boiler 
Bags for lace curtains 
Cloths for covers 
“ “ scrubbing 

Clock 


Sewing materials 
Buttons 

Pins and cushion 

Scissors 

Twine 

Newspapers 

Thin paper 

Old sheets and flannel 


DINING ROOM FURNISHING 


4 


Rug 9 X 12 ft. 

Shades . 

Table. 

Chairs, common. 

arm, high. 

Sideboard . 

Serving table. 

Table linen, 3 cloths. 

4 doz. napkins. 

2 carving cloths. 

Tableware (Dinner set, or its equivalent. 

stock pattern), semi-porcelain China 

Glassware . . 

Cutlery, knives, 1 doz. steel blades. 

Carving set. 

Sil ver-pl a ted, q uadr uple 

knives per doz .. 

forks “ “ .. 

tablespoons “ *• .. 

dessertspoons .... 

teaspoons “ " .. 

Silence cloth 4.6 x 8. 


$10.00 to $100.00 up 
.90 per window. 
6.00 to $50.00 up. 


1 

75 

4 4 

10 

00 “ 

3 

00 

4 4 

15 

00 “ 

15 

00 

4 4 

-u 

00 “ 

4 

00 

. 4 

30 

00 “ 




9 

00 “ 




10 

00 “ 




0 

00 “ 

12 

00 

to 

40 

0 

0 

25 

00 

up 


• 

2 

00 

4 4 



3 

50 

to 

8 

00 

3 

00 

A * 

10 

00 

3 

50 


6 

00 

4 

50 

» 4 

6 

00 

5 

00 

up 



4 

50 

“ 



3 

00 

44 



1 

00 





Average Estimate for small family, $75.00 to $150.00 








































110 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

BED ROOM FURNISHING 


Floor 

Covering 


Stove 


Utensils 


Matting. 

Rugs . 

Shades and draperies (2 windows) 

Enameled bed with spring. 

Mattress. 

2 Pillows. 

5 Sheets. 

8 Pairs Pillow cases. 

4 Blankets .. 

2 Counterpanes . 

Mattress cover. 

Bureau. 

Wash stand. 

Table .. 

Rocker. 

2 Chairs. 

Couch. 

Toilet set. 

1 doz. Towels. 

4 Bath Towels. 

Average Estimate..$60.00 to $90.00 


KITCHEN FURNISHINGS 


In selecting - kitchen furnishings it will be found 
that a linoleum covering for the floor will give the 
greatest satisfaction, preferably one which is entirely 
plain or with a pattern which extends all the way 
through. Next to linoleum, a hardwood floor. An 
oilcloth is unsatisfactory, unless it be, perhaps, the 
best quality, for a small family which will not give it 
hard wear. A painted floor is hard to care for and is, 
in many respects, least desirable. 

In selecting a stove a steel range is by far the most 
desirable, if possible. It is more expensive in first cost 
than a cast-iron stove, hut this difference is more 
than offset by efficiency, economy of fuel and dura¬ 
bility. 

Galvanized iron is the most desirable material for 
such utensils as coal hod, garbage and ash cans and 


$10 00 up 
5 00 “ 

3 00 ,l 
8 00 “ 

5.00 to $50.00 
5.00 up 
2 00 “ 

50 “ 

10 00 “ 

3.00 “ 

1 00 “ 


10 00 to 

75.00 

4 00 “ 

25 00 

1 75 “ 

10.00 

2.00 up 


3 00 “ 


8.00 “ 


3 00 “ 


.75 “ 



.50 























KITCHEN FURNISHINGS 


hi 


the like, being superior because of its light weight, 
durability and cleanliness. 

A nickeled teakettle with copper bottom is very sat¬ 
isfactory for general use, costing about $2.50. Alumi¬ 
num ware is increasing in favor. Its price alone 
limits its use. The price of a teakettle is from $2.25 
up, but the aluminum teakettle wears a lifetime. 
Stransky ware is, next to aluminum, the most durable 
of any for cooking utensils. It is moderate in price, 
the teakettles being $1.75 to $2.25. Tin is very unde¬ 
sirable for almost all cooking utensils, as water and 
acids act upon the tin, forming unhealthful chemical 
compounds. For such uses as are allowable, one 
should buy block tin with rolled edge. The grade is 
readily seen by markings on the back. The cheapest 
is marked X, medium XX, best XXX or XXXX. 
Those tins which have fewest crevices and seams are 
best. 

Sheet-iron bread tins with dull surface are excellent. 

Woodenware should be used as little as possible, 
as it is difficult to keep it sweet, dry and free from 
odors and insect life. Bread and meat boards and 
chopping trays are usually of wood. These should 
never he cheap in quality, as the wood of such is 
soft and not well seasoned, so that it cracks and peels 
easily. Wooden sppons should be those designated as 
the French holly. 

Glass or porcelain jars are excellent for spices 
and such articles as rice, tapioca, coffee, tea, etc. 


Materials 


Wooden 

Ware 





112 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 



A MOVABLE KITCHEN CABINET, USEFUL WHEN THERE 
IS NO BUILT-IN CABINET. 




















































































































K / TCHEN F URNISHINGS 


u 3 

These should be neatly labeled and conveniently ar¬ 
ranged in order on shelves in a cupboard near the 
cooking table. 

Iron for cooking utensils is almost a thing of the 
past. Although most durable, the weight is sufficient 
to banish it. Ag-ate or Stransky have taken the place 
to a great extent. Agate ware has depreciated greatly 
in quality since first introduced. The best of it is 
more durable and safer than enamel ware. Sheet 
iron frying pans are best, as they endure the highest 
heat. Steel is next. Agate may be used for certain 
things. 

Chairs should be tested for comfort. Wooden ones, 
if properly constructed, may be very comfortable. 
The shape and length of back, seat and legs greatly 
affect the comfort. A high stool is a strength saver 
when working at the table. 

Tables constructed for kitchen use are a great addi¬ 
tion in modern furnishings. They are supplied with 
drawers for knives, spoons and such small utensils. 
Those of white wood are cheapest, pine being about 50 
per cent more. The drawer increases the expense 
slightly, but this will not be grudgingly paid by one 
who has once enjoyed the advantage secured. The 
top should be unfinished, very smooth and even. It 
should be made of one piece of wood to avoid cracks. 
Oilcloth may he used as a covering, although less 
convenient because of the care necessary to avoid 
setting anything hot on it. Paint is altogether unde¬ 
sirable for the same reason. 


Iron 

Cooking- 

Utensils 


Chairs 


Tables 


TABLE AND BED LINEN, TOWELLING, ETC. 

In buying cotton and linen material for the various 
needs of the house, one must consider the use to be 
made of it and select accordingly. Towelling suitable 
for glass and silver is not suitable for cooking uten¬ 
sils, and vice versa. If cast off garments, old bed 
linen and the like are thriftily cherished and pre¬ 
served, much exoense is saved and frequently better 
cloths secured than in using new. For scrubbing 
purposes a soft cloth that will not scratch is desirable, 
at the same time it must have a certain firmness and 
roughness for the friction necessary. One of the best 
materials for general purposes of this kind is the 
woven underwear. Outing flannel and “mill ends” 
are also excellent. 

For drying, cloth with good absorbing quality is 
necessary. Cotton is undesirable, especially if new 
and not worn until softened. Linen is best for the 
purpose and is easiest to care for. It gives off less 
lint than cotton. Cheap qualities are less well pre¬ 
pared and scratch. 

For dish towels, a medium light weight linen towel¬ 
ling is best, a still heavier for the china dishes, while 
a firm, heavy crash, like the Royal Russian, is service¬ 
able for cooking utensils. The latter is also excel¬ 
lent for kitchen hand towels. 

For washing dishes the small mops are excellent 
for glassware and are preferred by many for the 

114 


TABLE AND BED LINEN 


ii5 

entire dish washing. They are inexpensive and are 
not difficult to keep sweet with proper care. Cheese¬ 
cloth is very satisfactory for silver and ffiass. 

Cheesecloth should be kept on hand for various 
purposes, as wiping meat, drying lettuce when washed, 
tying up fish to boil, straining soups and jellies, dust 
cloths and many other uses. It is easily cleansed, is 
soft and readily absorbent when old and is free from 
lint. For drying windows and lamps cheesecloth is 
excellent, or old napkins rough dried. Old cotton, as 
sheets and pillow cases, is fairly good. 

Hand towels may be of crash, damask or huckaback. 
If the latter, the Scotch or Irish is the best. The 
choice of material depends upon individual preference 
of smooth or rough surface. The damask is soft, fine 
and smooth, the huckaback rougher. The Irish hucka¬ 
back is woven with smooth dots for overthreads and 
is a fine grade. The Scotch is woven looser and is 
more showy. It is cheaper, but is good when washed. 
The damask toweling is a poor absorbent, because 
of its smooth, satiny surface. It is cheapest to buy 
huckaback by the yard and hemstitch it. Fringed 
towels should be avoided, as they are difficult to iron 
well and the fringe eventually wears off, leaving un¬ 
sightly ends. If fringed at all it should be tied. 

Turkish toweling of good quality is best for bath 
towels. Although cotton, it is so woven as to be 
readily absorbent. 


BED LINEN 


Sheeting 


Bleach 


Brands of 
Cotton 
Cloth 


Size of 
Sheets 


Sheeting was formerly woven in narrow widths 
only one yard wide, necessitating laborious seaming in 
the middle of a sheet. At the present time it is pos¬ 
sible to secure sheeting woven for single, two-thirds 
or double beds, so that hems at top and bottom are 
the only needful sewing. Ready made sheets and 
pillow cases may also be bought in most places, less 
carefully made than home-made, but temptingly inex¬ 
pensive, and conveniently ready for use. In provid¬ 
ing in either way one should have the size of the bed 
carefully in mind and secure sheets and pillow cases 
ample in size. 

Cotton suitable for this purpose comes bleached, 
half-bleached or unbleached. The unbleached is two 
or three cents per yard cheaper than the bleached, 
and is more durable, this being due to the fact of 
chemicals being used in the process of bleaching which 
affect the fibre. This is, however, not often selected 
on account of the color. The half-bleached is less 
objectionable. 

There is considerable choice in the different brands 
of cotton. Among the best are the Wamsetta, Fruit 
of the Loom and Pequot. 

For a full sized double bed, one should buy the 
10 quarters width of sheeting, for a two-thirds width 
bed 8 quarters, and for a cot or single bed 6 quarters. 

Pillow casing will vary to fit the size of the pillow, 5 

116 


TABLE AND BED LINEN 117 

quarters or 45 ins. being a large size and 42 ins. 
medium. 

The price depends upon the brand and size. The 
best Wamsetta in the 10 quarters width is 40c per 
yard, 5 quarters width 18c, while cheaper grades may 
be had at 28c for the 10 quarters width and 12 i-2c for 
the 5 quarters. 

Made sheets, entirely plain, in the best Wamsetta 
brand are about as follows: 


90 in. x 99 in.85c 

72 in. x 99 in.75c 

Cheaper: 

90 in. x 99 in.75c 

72 in. x 99 in.55c 

The tubing for pillow slips, woven without seams, 
are about: 

45 in.I 4 C 

42 in.>..I3 C 

36 in.12c 


Made up.15c each, up 

The unbleached may be secured of Pequot cotton in 
the made sheets, largest size, 55 cents each. 

TABLE LINEN 

Most of the material sold as table linen is imported. 
Its manufacture has been attempted in this country, 
but the temperature is unfavorable, so that the result 
is an inferior quality. 

There are three leading supplies—the Irish, Scotch 
and German, Belgian, Austrian and French being- 


price 


Grades 










u8 


HO USE 110 ED MA NAG EM EX T 


Bleaching 


Hints on 
Selecting 


German 

Damask 


Patterns 


included under the latter. The Irish is considered the 
best and is most expensive. 

The time of bleaching is a large factor in deter¬ 
mining the value of the linen. Bleaching takes from 
the weight. The natural and best method is the grass 
bleaching in summer; next to that the snow. Arti¬ 
ficial methods take from the strength of the fabric. 

It is difficult even for experts to detect the method. 

It is known by the times of coming into market. The 
grass bleached comes into the retail market about the 
middle of December, making this the desirable time 
to purchase. 

A fine thread damask may not be a superior wear¬ 
ing fabric. The weight is the criterion. The best 
fabrics are not too fine, firm but not stiff and heavy 
with starch. Those with a more elastic, leathery ap¬ 
pearance are better. Those patterns are less durable 
which have long unbroken threads. 

The German damask has a closer, harder twisted 
thread than the others, making it a very durable 
linen. The Germans cater less to variety of pattern 
and therefore produce less showy cloths, but they are 
very durable and are also less expensive. 

In selecting a pattern a medium-sized pattern, as the 
tulip is very satisfactory. It is a matter of taste to a 
great extent. Large patterns are more effective than • 
small but the latter are good taste. Some patterns are 
so generally liked as to become stock patterns, as the 
snowdrop. These can be found in all stores. With 




EXAMPLES OF TABLE LINEN. 

Scotch Flower Pattern, Irish Snowdrop Pattern, 
German Checkerboard Pattern. 













TABLE AND BED LINEN 


121 


other patterns only a few are woven and these are 
distributed to a few stores or a few of each to each 
store, ddie Scotch have excellent patterns, are finished 
about as well as the Irish and cost less. 

In buying one should, if possible, have the exact 
measurements of the table on which a cloth is to be 
used. An average length is 2 1-2 yards, 1-4 to 1-3 
yard should be allowed to drop at each end if the table 
he square. Two dozen napkins should be allowed for 
each cloth. 

Material may be purchased by the yard or in pattern 
lengths. The latter are 50-75 cents per yard more. 
The German linen runs from 50 cents to $1.50 per 
yards. The Scotch in the bleached run from 50 cents 
to $2.00 or over per yard. The Irish even in un¬ 
bleached begins at 75 cents or $1.00 per yard and may 
be $2.50 or $3.00. The latter are, of course, very 
beautiful goods, but for common use and durability a 
good quality may be secured for $i.oo-$2.oo per yard. 

Napkins vary in size from 5-8, as they are termed at 
the store (17-22 in.) known as breakfast size, to 3-4 
(23-27 in.) and 7-8 (29-31 in.), the latter being 
very large. 

There is less difference in the price of napkins in 
the different makes. In either the 20 in. napkins vary 
in price from $ 1-75 P cr ( l° zcn up- Good ones are 
$3.oo-$3.50 per dozen. 

A heavy cloth, known as the silence cloth, is an es¬ 
sential accompaniment to a well appointed table. This 


Size 


Price 


Napkins 


Silence 

Cloth 




Grades 


122 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

may be of felt, or two faced cotton flannel or may be 
a quilted or knitted cloth on purpose. 

Canton flannel, 54 inches wide, 50c yard; quilted, 54 
inches wide, 62 i-2c yard; knitted, 62 inches wide, 75c 
yard give relative prices. 

CARPETS AND RUGS 

A square of carpet with a border of hard wood 
brought to a high polish, or even a painted border or 
denim or some similar material is preferable to a carpet 
covering the entire floor and tacked down. Besides 
the greater attractiveness it is much more cleanly, as 
this can be taken out of doors for frequent beating. 

Of the different grades Ingrain is the cheapest. It 
is loosely woven, and although its wearing qualities 
are surprising considering the price, it is not the wisest 
choice for those who may choose. The dirt goes 
through it easily. Pleasing colors are difficult to se¬ 
cure as these carpets are colored with chemical dyes 
which are less soft and pleasing in effect than the 
vegetable dyes, which are used in the best grades. In¬ 
grain carpeting is more suitable and serviceable for 
chambers than for living rooms. It is reversible. 

7 apestry comes next in value, resembling Brussels 
on the right side but having a canvas back with colors 
on one side only. This wears fairly well. 

Brussels carpeting is heavy, with colors on both 
sides. It wears excellently well and generallv proves 
best for ordinary use. The Brussels carpeting has an 
uncut pile Cut pile carpets are called velvet carpets, as 





WILTON" 


KINDS OF CARPET. 









CARPETS AND RUGS 125 

the Axminster and Wilton. The Wilton wear ad¬ 
mirably well, and are /ery satisfactory in colors and 
patterns. 

In buying by the yard the Ingrains are usually a 
yard wide, while Tapestry, Brussels and Velvets are 
but 3-4 of a yard. In practicing strict economy much 
may be saved by buying short lengths, small patterns 
or old styles. 

Small patterns, sober colors and indefinite designs 
are more artistic, cheaper and more serviceable than 
the opposite. One should endeavor to secure a gen¬ 
erally pleasing effect in a carpet so that the room for 
which it is designed will be made attractive without 
one's being especially conscious through what means 
the effect is produced. A carpet with striking pattern 
and color which arrests and holds attention is not 
pleasing. 

Rugs or squares should not have borders seamed 
at the corners. The joining should rather be directly 
across, thus: 


Suggestion 
for Buying 


Patterns 

and 

Color 


Rugs 











126 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Re-made 

Carpets 


Kensington 

Squares 


Smyrnas 


Persians 


A good old carpet can be utilized very satisfactorily 
by being re-woven by some of the reliable firms which 
have taken up the business. Even carpeting of dif¬ 
ferent kinds may be used together in this way, if 
they are all-wool. A difference in color does not 
matter as the material is recolored as desired. 

Ingrain or Kensington squares, as they are often 
called, are more expensive when real and imported 
than the American squares. The price is by the yard. 
The usual size of 6 or 7 1-2x9 f ee t (2 or 2 1-2x3 
yards) costs $4.00 or $4.75 up. Bv the square yard 
for carpeting a floor the Ingrain is 7075c per yard. 

Smyrna rugs are alike on both sides and are very 
serviceable. They cost $20 for a rug, 9x12 feet 
(9'xi2'), $8 .oo-$9.oo for a rug, 2x3 feet (2'x3'). 

Wilton’s are most nearly like the Oriental rugs, 
and are better than some cheap Persian rugs. 

Persians, 6'x9' cost $30.00 up indefinitely; Wiltons, 
6 'xg' cost $22.00 up; 9 'xi 6' cost $36.00 up. 

The prices given are not exact for all times and 
places, of course, but may serve as an indication of 
relative costs. 


TEST QUESTIONS 


The following questions constitute the “written rech 
cation” which the regular members of the A. S. H. E. 
answer in writing and send in for the correction and 
comment of the instructor. They are intended to 
emphasize and fix in the memory the most importan 
points in the lesson. 


r-t- 




HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


PART II 


Read Carefully. Place your name and address on the 
first sheet of the test. Use a light grade of paper and write 
on one side of the sheet only. Leave space between an¬ 
swers. Read the lesson paper a number of times before 
answering the questions. Ansiuer fully. 


1. What is the value of system in house work? 

2. Outline in detail a system for the household with 

which you are most familiar. 

3. Judging from your own experience, how long 

should it take to perform the daily tasks of 
house work, such as dusting the living room, 
washing the dinner dishes, sweeping a bed 
room, etc ? 

4. If you have employed servants, have you met 

with satisfactory results? 

5. If so, what do you regard as the causes of your 

success ? 

6. Have you made any observations in general, of 

aid in the study of domestic service problems? 

7. Do you know of any efforts among women to 

correct the situation, either as steps toward 
solution, or study of the situation? 

8. What is your attitude toward non-resident labor 

in the home? 




HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


9. Taking' into account fuel, supplies, and your own 
time and labor, what can you say of the rela¬ 
tive cost and results of laundry work done in 
and outside the house? 

10. What constitutes a legitimate bargain? 

11. What elements aid the flourishing* “bargain” 

counters of our stores? 

12. What has been your experience in buying as to 

“the best is the cheapest?" 

13. Give a list of what you regard as ten real and 

profitable conveniences in kitchen furnishing. 

14. Give a similar list of uneconomical articles, be¬ 

cause rarely used or not as useful as supposed 
when purchased. 

15. What kinds of linen are there? 

16. What are the advantages and disadvantages of 

rugs? Of carpets? 

17. Add any suggestions arising from the study of 

this section. 

Note.—After completing the test, sign your full name. 



Household Management 


Part III 



MARKETING IN MEXICO 













HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

PART III 


MARKETING 


A practical knowledge of marketing on the part 
of the housewife affects to a marked degree both the 
comfort and expense-book of the family. Intelligence 
and skill in buying are only secured by careful prac¬ 
tice. The purchaser must not fear to ask questions. 
Most men with whom she will have to deal will be 
found to be patient, helpful, painstaking and reliable, 
yet she must make sure by sufficient trials that the 
cuts of meat, etc., recommended are, all things con¬ 
sidered, those that are best adapted to meet the needs 
of her family. 

It is usually greatly to one’s advantage to select a 
regular place for marketing. Greater consideration is 
shown such customers and better satisfaction results. 
Time is saved, and usually it proves to be quite a? 
economical, often more so. Disappointments are less 
liable to occur than in buying more generally. 

The fact of buying regularly at the same place 
should not, however, lead to the erroneous idea that 
a telephone may be substituted for frequent visits to 
the market. This is a mistake which is increasing 
rapidly in America. Orders given in this way, by note, 

127 


Buying 


Regular 

Customers 


Use of 
Telephone 



128 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Reasonable 

Time 


Supply 
of Meats 


or to the driver at the door are liable to be less 
satisfactory than those which are given at the store 
where selection can be made by the purchaser. 
The telephone may be resorted to occasionally 
in emergencies, but should not take the place of regu¬ 
lar visits. The greater satisfaction to be secured 
through personal selection, the greater variety secured 
by seeing otherwise unthought-of articles and the 
closer economy possible more than offset the additional 
time consumed. 

More than a single day’s order may be given at a 
time. All orders needing prompt filling, as meats and 
vegetables, should be given in ample season, usually 
the day before, so that there may be sufficient time to 
fill the order without discomfort to those who serve. 
This is only reasonable consideration for others, be¬ 
sides securing for one’s self the avoidance of disap¬ 
pointments which are very apt to occur when too 
limited time is allowed in filling the order. It is evi¬ 
dence of an inexcusable lack of foresight when a 
housewife plans so little beyond the immediate need 
as to leave the ordering of roast beef for a twelve- 
o’clock dinner until io o’clock of the morning it is 
desired. 

Meats are, perhaps, the most difficult to understand 
and to buy to advantage. A few years ago the sup¬ 
ply of meats was practically all local, but at the present 
time only veal and lamb are supplied locally in places 
of any considerable size. The supply of beef and pork 



ROASTS OF BEEF, NEW YORK MARKET. 

From Photographs made for the Departments of Domestic Science, Columbia University. 




















BEEF 


129 


for the United States is almost wholly from the West, 
Chicago being the chief center, especially for the 
wholesale beef trade. Some of the objections raised 
by those who oppose the consumption of meat because 
of supposed unwholesome and unsanitary conditions 
of killing, storing and transporting, are practically 
without foundation at the present time. Conditions 
have been greatly improved within the last few years 
and great sanitary precautions are exercised. The 
large houses of Chicago are rendered thoroughly sani¬ 
tary and are carefully inspected by United States of¬ 
ficers who also inspect every animal killed, and tag the 
meat for shipping. Each quarter is numbered, the 
car in which it is shipped is also numbered and a rec¬ 
ord made of the meat sent. In this way any com¬ 
plaints can be readily traced. The transportation is 
now done by the use of refrigerator cars. 

BEEF 

The quality of beef depends upon several conditions. 
The age of the animal when killed, the breed, the man¬ 
ner of fattening, the amount of exercise and the length 
of time the beef is allowed to cure before using, all ef¬ 
fect the quality of the meat to a marked degree. The 
“prime” age of an animal for killing is 4 years, but 
the beef of a creature from 4 to 8 years of age is 
good. Beyond that age meat is apt to be tough and 
unsatisfactory. Although grass-fed animals are 
healthier than stall-fed, the latter is customary, or, at 


Quality 


130 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


least, a combination of the two. Exercise toughens 
the muscles but if moderate, is considered desirable in 
rendering an animal healthier and the meat finer fla¬ 
vored. Beef has the finest flavor and is most tender 
when kept as long as possible before using. Three 
weeks is usually the shortest time allowed for this 
curing when conditions of storage are such as to per¬ 
mit. 

Texture Meat should be selected which is firm and fine- 
Coior grained. The color should be bright red, the fat yel¬ 
lowish white. The flesh and fat of old beef is darker, 
dry and coarser. Beef becomes dark through stand¬ 
ing exposed to the air. One should distinguish care¬ 
fully between a mere surface discoloration which may 
be trimmed off and the rest of the cut found to be en¬ 
tirely fresh and suitable to use, and the decomposition 
which gives a taint to the entire piece. 

Portion In buying, economy demands in general, that the 
amount of bone in a cut should be small in proportion 
to the amount of meat. In order to buy wisely and 
successfully it is necessary to have in mind a clear 
idea of the anatomy of the animal, also the muscle- 
fibre arrangement. These are seen in the beef in 
the illustrations. The vertebrae making up the back¬ 
bone differ sufficiently so that with study one may 
recognize the different ones in the cuts of meat. The 
backbone is split in dividing the body into halves so 
that but one-half will be found in a joint of meat. 
Study the illustrations carefully. 


BEEF 


131 



f, Neck; 2, Six Chuck Ribs; 3, Seven Prime Ribs and Loin; 1, Thick or 
Hip Sirloin; 5a, Top of Rump; 6a, Aitch Bone or Rump Piece; 
b, Cartilage; c , Shoulder Blade; d, Cross Ribs. 



MUSCLE ARRANGEMENT OF BEEF. 

1, Head; 2, Neck; 3, Chuck Ribs and Shoulder Blade; 4, Seven Prime 
Ribs; 5, Loin; 6, Thick Sirloin, called Boneless Sirloin in Chicago, 
Back of Rump in Boston; 7 -8, Rump Piece in New York; 8, Aitch 
Bone; 9, Round; 10, Leg; a, Top of Sirloin; b, Flank; 
c, Plate; d, Brisket. (Redrawn from llome 
Economics by Miria Parloa.) 






















132 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Arrangement 
of Muscles 


Carving 




A knowledge of the muscle fibres and their arrange¬ 
ments is as important in buying, cooking and carving 
meat as familiarity with the location of the bones. 
The lean of meat is made up of muscular tissue. This 
consists of prism-shaped bundles, divisible under the 
microscope into minute tubes or muscle fibres. These 
fibres are held together in bundles by connective tissue 

which is readily distinguished by 
holding up a loosely connected 
piece of meat and noting the thin, 
filmy membrane. When meat is 
cut “across the grain” these bundles 
of fibres are severed and the ends 
appear. The membrane forming 
the walls of these tubes is very deli¬ 
cate and elastic. 

Carving has a great effect upon 
the apparent toughness of the cut 
of meat. In the accompanying il¬ 
lustration, a shows the muscular 
bundle, a fibre partially separated into its minute tubes, 
while b shows the fibre cut across the grain as it should 
be in carving. In this way the fibres are broken into 
smaller pieces as an aid to digestion and the contents 
of the tubes are set free, thus being more accessible 
for the digestive juices than when the meat is carved 
lengthwise of the fibres. 



Fibres of Meat. 


r 



















CUTS OF BEEF STEAK, NEW YORK MARKET. 

Courtesy of the Department of Domestic Science, Columbia University. 




134 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


hind quarter, ten on the fore quarter. In New York 
all the ribs are cut on the fore quarter. Beef is best 
from a creature weighing 800 to 900 pounds. 



CUTS OF BEEF ACCORDING TO THE U. S. DEPARTMENT 

OF AGRICULTURE. 


Fore Quarter 

Weight An average fore quarter weighs about 200 pounds. 
It is divided into: 

1. Neck. 

2. Chuck. 

3. Ribs. 

4. Sticking piece. 

5. End of ribs. ^ Sometimes called together 

6. Brisket. j Rattleran. 

7. Shin or shank. 

The fore quarter as a whole being coarser is used 
chiefly for canned meat, stews, soup meat and corned 













BEEF 


135 


beef. The neck is best used for mince meat. Prices 
on all meats differ too widely to make it possible to 
state with accuracy for all 
places, but that we may be 
guided somewhat by price 
in estimating values, aver¬ 
age prices will be given. 

For this cut 8 cents a pound 
is an average price. 

The Chuck lies just be¬ 
hind the neck, including the 
first five ribs. This cut may 
be used in a variety of 
ways, as cheap steak, roast, 
pQt roast or stew. Several 
of the cheaper cuts indi¬ 
cated as possible roasts or 
steak cuts were formerly 
used much more commonly 
than now for such pur¬ 
poses. As our country has 
grown more prosperous 
there has been a great in¬ 
crease in the demand for 

the better cuts until many markets are forced to buy 
extra loins, etc., to meet the demand. A very fair 
small one rib roast may be cut from this portion. The 
chuck sells for about 12 1-2 cents a pound. 

The Ribs are used chiefly for roasts and constitute 
the best of the fore quarter. The portion lying nearest 



SIDE OF BEEF, U. S. DEPT 
AGRICULTURE. 


The Neck 


The Chuck 


The Ribs 




136 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


First Cut 
of the Ribs 


Sticking 

Piece 


End of 
the Ribs 


the hind quarter is very nearly the same in quality. 
There is a decided preference in the rib roasts. The 
“first cut of the ribs/’ as it is called contains the first 
two or three ribj from the hind quarter, dififering ac¬ 
cording to the size of roast desired. Cut long, that is 
with the thin end pieces left on, such a roast brings 
as high as 17 to 23 cents a pound, while “cut short,” 
that is with the thin rib ends removed, it sells in some 
places as high as 20 to 30 cents a pound. Following 
this cut are the second and third cuts, the third join¬ 
ing the first cut of the chuck. These are not as high 
in quality or price, 15 to 18 cents a pound. The sec¬ 
ond cut is a very good roast. 

The Sticking Piece is a cut between the neck and 
brisket, so called from the custom of bleeding there 
after killing. Although the fibre is coarse and tough 
in this piece it is an excellent piece when properly 
used. It is especially fine for beef tea, since for that, 
one should select as juicy a piece as possible. From 
the method of bleeding much blood collects in this 
piece and it is particularly juicy. It may be used for 
stews also where long, slow cooking renders the mus¬ 
cle fibre tender and sets free a portion of the rich 
juices. 

The End of the Ribs is often called the plate piece 
or rattleran. Although this portion has a liberal sup¬ 
ply of bones they are thin, and generous allowance 
is made for that fact in the price. It is an especially 
desirable piece for corned beef if it is to be pressed 



CUTS OF STEAK AND LAMB CHOPS. 

Courteiy of the Department of Domestic Science, Columbia University. 





























N 



























F 


























BEEF 


137 


and served cold, as it has a good supply of fat blended 
with the lean and hardens to cut well. 

The Brisket is much preferred for corned beef by 
some. It is a more solidly lean piece on the whole, 
thus carving better when hot. It is to a large extent 
a matter of choice as regards the amount of fat de¬ 
sired. There is a difference recognized at markets be¬ 
tween the thick end of the brisket, called “fancy 
brisket,” and the thinner end, the former being con¬ 
sidered superior. The brisket corned brings as high 
as 15 cents a pound where there is good demand, while 
the rib piece is not over 8 cents, sometimes as low as 
6 cents. 

The Shin is used for soup meat. It is divided into 
three pieces, more meat being found on the upper 
piece. Many make a great mistake in throwing away 
the smallest, most bony part supposing it to be value¬ 
less, which is far from true. It is rich in gelatin and 
those properties which are desired in soup stock. The 
shin usually sells for not over 5 cents a pound. 

The Hind Quarter 

While there is a great variety in the possible cuts of 
the hind quarter they may be classed in general as 
follows: 

1. Loin. 4. Shin. 

2. Rump. 5. Flank. 

r Round. 


The 

Brisket 


The Shin 


Cuts 


138 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Sirloin 


Tenderloin 


Fillet 


The location of these sections will be seen by con¬ 
sulting page 135. The entire loin is frequently called 
the “sirloin.” The choicest steaks and roasts are cut 
from this part. The first two slices from the end 
where the loin joins the ribs are called the first cuts of 
the sirloin. These are not as tender or desirable as 
those which follow. After these are removed, the 
tenderloin begins to appear which lies on the under or 
inside of the loin and being so protected is very tender. 
The slices which include the largest portions of 
tenderloin are considered the best and bring the high¬ 
est price. Some of these slices when trimmed bring 
as high as 35 or 40 cents a pound. 

It would seem that the tenderloin is greatly over¬ 
rated in some instances, since, except for the fact 
of its being especially tender, it is not more desirable. 
It is not as rich in juices or flavor as the rest of the 
loin. The entire tenderloin is used for what is known 
as a “fillet.” When removed and sold separately for 
this purpose it costs as high as 60 cents to $1.00 a 
pound since the remainder of the loin is rendered 
thereby far less salable. On the other hand, for one 
who wishes a delicious roast at moderate expense this 
loin with the tenderloin removed is very desirable. 

In buying for a fillet roast it is far the wisest plan to 
buy the entire loin or section necessary to give the size 
desired, at 35 cents a pound, have the tenderloin re¬ 
moved for the fillet roast and the rest reserved for 
other uses, as steaks or later roasts. The thinner end 


BEEF 


139 


of the tenderloin which extends into the rump is 
cheaper, about 35 cents a pound. Some cheaper fillets 
are sometimes to be found in the markets but are not 
desirable, as they are from inferior beef. 

The Rump lies back of the loin. As a whole it 
weighs about 52 pounds. It is divided into three sec¬ 
tions, known as back, middle cut and face. This por¬ 
tion is sometimes called hip or thick sirloin. It may 
be used for steaks or roasts, while some of the less de¬ 
sirable parts are used for pot roasts, braising, etc. 
The part nearest the loin is termed the back; it is 
the best part for all uses except for steaks. Next to 
that, the middle, the face having more muscle. 

A cut from the rump which is excellent for a variety 
of uses in the Aitch bone. It is satisfactory for a cheap 
roast, braising and the like. It weighs about six 
pounds usually and may be bought for 7 to 12 cents a 
pound. There is not enough bone included to offset 
the difference between this price and the 25 cents a 
pound which portions of the rump may bring, as the 
middle cut. The face makes a good piece for corning. 

The Round is divided into top and bottom, so called 
because of the way in which the leg is laid upon the 
block to be cut up. The outside, being laid down, is 
called the bottom round, while the inside, being on 
the top as it is laid down is called the top round. The 
difference in quality to be found between the two 
divisions is what would be expected from the rule 
stated earlier concerning the greater toughness of the 


The 

Rump 


Aitch 

Bone 


The 

Round 


140 


» 

HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

more exposed and exercised parts of the animal. The 
bottom of the round being nearest the skin is the 
tougher and cheaper meat. The top round is used for 
a very fair quality of steak. The bottom round is 
better for braising, stews, etc. A vein divides the two 
sections so that it is easy to separate them. The top 
may bring 22 to 25 cents a pound, while the poorest 
parts may be secured for 12 1-2 cents, 
shin The Shank or Shin is used as that of the fore 
Flank quarter, for soup. The Flank is usually corned, sell¬ 
ing for 7 to 10 cents a pound. It is a thin piece and 
has a good mixture of fat. 

Summary of Cuts of Beef 

Passing over the various cuts of beef in review, then, 
we may consider the cuts most desirable for the dif¬ 
ferent methods of cooking which we employ in the 
order of their desirability, regardless of cost, 
small The selection of a roast of meat for a small family 

toasts . . J 

is the most difficult, since the larger the roast the bet¬ 
ter. Nothing smaller than a two-rib roast is very sat¬ 
isfactory to attempt to roast. Unless one is willing 
to roast less thoroughly the first day and reroast the 
second, or is willing to serve cold roast, the selection 
is very much limited. For such a family a rump fillet 
or Aitch bone is, perhaps, most satisfactory. The finest 
larger roasts are to be obtained from the first three 
cuts of the sirloin, and next to these the first cut of 
the ribs. Following these are the second and third 


BEEF 


141 

cuts of the ribs, the back of the rump and a chuck 
roast. A rib-roll is a roast prepared by removing the 
bones, rolling and tying. It is thus made easier to 
carve. If one has a roast prepared in this way, she 
should have the bones sent home to be used in the 
soup kettle. 

There is little to be said in addition concerning the 
selection of cuts for steak, since in general meat that is 
especially desirable for roasts is equally good for slic¬ 
ing for steaks. The best is especially desirable here, 
since there is less opportunity to practice skill in cook¬ 
ing, which in other modes of preparing may avail 
greatly to improve an otherwise undesirable piece. It 
is not as pleasing to the majority of people to have 
meat served as steak unless it be fairly tender and 
juicy. In the main it is more satisfactory to those 
who should economize closely to rely upon other cuts, 
buying an occasional good steak for variety and espe¬ 
cial luxury. 

While it is true that the better the piece of meat 
the better the result as a general thing, it is possible 
and desirable to save expense to some extent where 
it may be done without serious loss. The meat to be 
cut for Hamburg steak need not be of the best, since 
it is rendered more digestable by the mincing. The 
top of the round is quite good enough, while the bot¬ 
tom round or even the shoulder and flank are used, al¬ 
though less satisfactorily. 

The top of the round, eighth to the thirteenth ribs, 
first cut of chuck, the cheaper of the rump cuts, the 


Selection 
of Steaks 


Cheaper 

Cuts 


142 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Braising 

Cuts 


Corned 

Beef 


Cuts for 
Stews 


Beef 

Heart 


flank and leg may all be used for braising or pot roasts. 
By this method of cooking much is done to soften 
tough pieces, rendering them more digestible and ac¬ 
ceptable, so that the cheaper cuts are made very palata¬ 
ble in the hands of a skillful cook. 

The order of preference for corned beef might be, 
brisket, rump, piece from the chuck, plate, shoulder. 
Others would select the shoulder or chuck first for the 
reasons already mentioned. The flank is sometimes 
corned, but it is not considered a wise choice since it 
is not well protected by fat or bone as meat for corn¬ 
ing should be to prevent the loss of the juices in the 
process of corning. 

For stews it is desirable to extract some or all the 
juices from the meat. The meat is finely divided be¬ 
fore cooking and the methods applied are those of 
slow, long cooking. The flank, leg and sticking piece 
are found to be very good for these purposes. Thus 
we find that all the animal may be used to good pur¬ 
pose in one or another of the ways indicated. The 
family that lives in the country and raises and provides 
its own supply finds it necessary to utilize all the parts. 
Those that depend on city markets are more ignorant 
of the different cuts and are as a result inclined to be 
much more extravagant, not having as wide experi¬ 
ence in learning to prepare the cheaper cuts in an ac¬ 
ceptable way. 

Beef Heart is an economical and palatable meat. It 
is solid, and a good sized heart will serve fourteen 


BEEF 


143 


people. There is nothing to be feared in having some 
left, as it is even better to serve cold for a breakfast or 
supper dish than when hot. The most satisfactory way 
of cooking is to boil it three or four hours, cool, clean 
of coagulated blood, stuff and bake slowly for three 
hours. It may be braised or stewed. It is one of the 
most inexpensive meats, costing not over 5 cents a 
pound usually. 

One should be very careful in using liver to deter¬ 
mine that it is in a healthy condition, as it is an organ 
which is not infrequently diseased. It should be clear, 
smooth and without spots. Spots and streaks indicate 
a dangerous condition. Calf’s liver is usually preferred 
as more tender and delicate, but the liver from good 
beef is cheaper and satisfactory. There is a great dif¬ 
ference in it, some being hard and tough. Pig’s is 
preferred by some. Calf’s bring from 16 to 20 cents a 
pound, while beef’s may be procured at from 8 to 10 
cents. 

Kidneys are cooked by some, although not as ex¬ 
tensively as the organs already mentioned. They may 
be stewed or braised. Care should be used in select¬ 
ing, as in liver. Calf’s are preferred, next lamb’s, 
mutton and beef. Those weighing from one to two 
pounds may be bought for 8 cents each. 

In selecting a tongue for cooking one should be 
chosen which is firm and thick, with plenty of fat, as 
the lean and flabby ones‘do not cook satisfactorily. 
Those of all animals are used, the beef more often, be¬ 
cause of its size. They may be bought fresh, smoked 


Liver 


Kidneys 


Tongue 


1 


Tripe 


Sweetbreads 


144 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

or corned. Tongues weighing from four to six 
pounds may be bought at from 16 to 18 cents a pound. 

Tripe is taken from the lining of the stomach of 
the animal. It is sold either simply cleaned or pickled. 
The honey-comb is the better. It is white and tender 
when taken from a healthy animal. The honey-comb 
costs about 10 cent a pound; the plain is a little 
cheaper. The cost of many of these things depends al¬ 
most wholly upon the demand for them. 

Sweetbreads consist of the pancreas and thymus 
glands of the young calf or lamb which later in its 
life are absorbed or changed so as not to be edible. 
Those from a milk-fed animal are far superior, being 
white, firm and plump, while those from an improperly 
fed animal are dark, flabby and tough. They are 
generally sold in pairs. The pancreas is larger and 
better. They range from 25 or 35 cents to 50 or 75 
cents a pair. What are known as Chicago sweetbreads 
may be bought in Eastern markets at times for $1.50 
a dozen. These are packed on ice. Where the de¬ 
mand for sweetbreads is great, pork sweetbreads are 
often substituted. These are coarse and dark colored. 
The buyer should learn to distinguish these from 
calves’ sweetbreads and refuse them. 


BEEF 


i45 


Table of Cuts and Uses of Fore and Hind Quarters of Beef 


FORE QUARTERS. 


4 Ribs. 

6 Chuck Ribs. 

Neck. 

Sticking-Piece. 

^ Thick end j 
Rattle Rand -J Second cut - 
( Thin end ’ 

< Navel end ^ 
Brisket Butt end or -.. 

' Fancy Brisket ’ 
Fore-shin. 


.Good roast. 

.Small steaks, pot roast, stews. 

Cheap Hamburg steak, mince meat. 
.Mince meat, beef tea, stews. 

.Corned, especially cold sliced. 


Excellent for Corning. Perhaps best. 
.Soup stock, stews. 


3 Ribs 


.'Tip. 

Loin Middle. 

(First cut. 

Fillet or 

Tenderloin , , 

( Steaks 

f Back. 


Rump 


Round 


! Middle. 

j Face. 

t Aitch Bone 

j Top. 

( Bottom 


Flank. 

Shin or Shank 


HIND QUARTERS. 

.Excellent roast. 

.Finest roast, steaks. 

.Sirloin and porter house steak. 

.Roast and steaks. 

.Larded and roasted, or broiled 

.Best large roasts and cross-cut steaks. 

.Roasts. 

.Inferior roasts and stews. 

.Cheap roast, corned, braised 

.Steaks, excellent for beef tea. 

.Hamburg steak, curry of beef. 

.Stuffed, rolled and braised or corned. 

.Cheap stews or soup stock. 






















VEAL 


Season 
of Veal 


Bob Veal 


While veal is in season all the year in many markets, 
it is best in spring and summer, being at its prime in 
May. The quality of the veal depends to a considera¬ 
ble extent upon the age and manner of feeding. Six 



CUTS OP VEAL ACCORDING TO THE U. S. DEPARTMENT 


OP AGRICULTURE. 

to ten weeks is the preferable age at the time of kill¬ 
ing. When the calf is killed under four weeks of age 
the meat is injurious, so that it is not allowed to be 
sold, such being known as “bob veal. ,, The flesh of 
such immature calves is soft, flabby and gelatinous, 
blue and watery in color instead of fine-grained, tender 
and white with a tendency to pink, as in the healthy 
meat. The meat is best of calves which have been fed 
entirely upon milk. Grass-feeding is the poorest of all. 

146 










VEAL 


147 


In France an especially fine quality is secured by care¬ 
ful feeding, raw eggs being included in the feed. 

The cuts of veal are similar to those of beef, except 
simpler. The fore quarter includes only five ribs and 


is so small that it is easily 
boned and rolled for a good 
sized roast. The entire fore 
quarter weighs 6 to 12 
pounds, and costs 8 to 10 
cents entire or with neck 
removed 10 to 14 cents. 
The neck can be used for 
stew. The head and brains 
are esteemed by many, the 
head being used for soup, 
and the brains cooked in 
various ways. 

The loin includes all that 
is divided into loin and 
rump in the beef. This is 
an excellent roast, the leg 
alone being considered bet¬ 
ter. The leg is the choicest 
for roasts or for cutlets. 
The shoulder when boned, 
rolled and stufifed makes a 



very acceptable cheap 
good for stew. The 


veal roast. The breast is 
“knuckle” of veal corresponds to the shin in the beef 
and is especially fine for soup, being highly gelatinous. 


Cuts 
Similar 
to Beef 





MUTTON AND LAMB 


Mutton is, for most, a most nutritious and easily 
digested meat when of good quality and properly pre¬ 
pared, but it may be very uninviting through careless¬ 
ness in cooking and serving. For this reason, no 



CUTS OF LAMB, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 


doubt, it is less in favor in this country than beef. 
Lamb is the name applied to the animal until one year 
old, after that it is properly mutton. The age is told 
by the bone of the fore leg, being smooth in the young 
animal but showing ridges which grow deeper and 
deeper with age. Mutton and lamb are in season the 
year round. The best mutton is from an animal not 
over 5 years old, plump with small bones. Like the 
beef long curing before consumption is desirable. 

148 







MUTTON AND LAMB 


149 


The usual cuts of mutton are the leg, loin, shoulder, 
neck, breast and flank. The leg is, all things consid¬ 
ered, the best roast. The fore quarter, or the shoulder 
boned and rolled as in veal, is an excellent cheap 
roast, the choice depending on 
the size of the family. The ribs 
and loin may be used for roasts 
for a small family, but are more 
frequently cut into chops. The 
rib chops are smallest and, there¬ 
fore, more expensive. They 
must, in fact, be regarded as a 
great luxury, considering the 
price and the . proportion of 
bone, but they are much in favor 
for their delicious delicacy and 
fine flavor. The shoulder, breast, 
and best part of the neck are 
excellent for stews, pot pies or 
for boiling. The portion of the 
neck nearest the head is tougher 
and is best used for broth for 
which it is especially desirable, 
being rich in flavor and nutriment. 







PORK 


Season 
of Pork 


Pork is good only in autumn and winter. A large 
part of the animal is so fat that instead of being sold 
fresh it is salted and sold as salt pork. The ribs and 
loin are the most desirable fresh cuts, being used either 



CUTS OF PORK, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 


for roasts or chops. Care is needed to select a whole¬ 
some piece, suitable fresh pork having firm, clear and 
white fat and pink lean, while in the salted pork, one 
should select either a pinkish piece or one without 
color, a yellow appearance not being a good indica¬ 
tion. A thick, mediumly fat piece of salt pork is bet¬ 
ter to buy than the thin flank pieces. 

Bacon is secured by smoking the fat pork in addi¬ 
tion to the salting process. It is a most digestible form 
of fat and is enjoyed by many who do not care for 

150 


Bacon 






POULTRY 


151 

other forms of salt pork. It is somewhat more expen¬ 
sive, salt pork selling for'll to 15 cents, bacon for 15 
to 18 cents per pound. 

Sausages are made either of 
pork alone, or beef and pork, 

* or of veal and pork together. 

Those sold in the market are 
usually put up in skins. In 
buying sausage one should be 
especially careful to buy a known 
and approved brand. Otherwise 
they are an untrustworthy form 
of meat, as fragments of all 
kinds are easily disposed of in 
this way. The price of sausage 
varies from 12 to 20 cents per 
pound. 

POULTRY 

There is perhaps no other kind 
of meat in which there is more 
need of skill and care in select¬ 
ing than poultry. Great care is 
necessary in handling, as the flesh easily becomes 
tainted or rendered unhealthful. Some states allow 
fowl to be kept for sale undrawn. This is not only a 
great menace to health, but a thing no thoughtful buyer 
will desire. The excess price charged for what are 
called Philadelphia Chickens comes from the method 
of killing and preparing for market. An improperly 



Care in 
Selecting 






152 


IIO USE 110 LD MANAGEMENT 


Method of 
Plucking 


Tests 


drawn chicken is nearly as bad as one sold undrawn, 
in some cases may be even worse. The laws regulat¬ 
ing the sale of poultry in New York state are such 
that in the majority of cases chickens and turkeys are 
most miserably prepared for market. 

The flavor of the flesh is also affected by the method 
of plucking, the dry picking being much to be pre¬ 
ferred, although the appearance of the fowl may be 
less attractive. While scalding aids in removing the 
feathers it also affects the flavor, so that dry-picked 
sell at a higher price. 

In young fowl and turkey the breast bone is soft, 
bending readily, and the flesh is smooth. Hairs over 
the flesh are an indication of age, pin-feathers of a 
young bird. The body should be plump and fat. A 
poor bird is bluish white, thin and often too liberally 
supplied with pin-feathers. Scaly legs are a further 
indication of age, the young having smooth legs. 
While the preference is always for chickens, especially 
for roasting, a good fowl may be thoroughly steamed 
before roasting and so rendered tender and very ac¬ 
ceptable. It is much greater economy to buy fowl 
as one secures far more meat in proportion to bone, 
and fowl is considerably cheaper. The West has be¬ 
come a large source of our supply as in meat, espe¬ 
cially in turkeys. Certain Eastern states like Ver¬ 
mont and Connecticut have acquired in the past an en¬ 
viable local reputation, but at the present time a large 
part even of the Eastern trade is in Western turkeys, 


FISH 


153 

shipped East in refrigerator cars. Methods of cold 
storage have advanced so far that turkeys may be 
kept a year or more, but not without losing in quality. 

FISH 

Fish deteriorates and becomes injurious sooner than 
any other animal food. Great care should be taken 
to select that which is strictly fresh. It is impossible 
to transport it a great distance and keep it as fresh 
as is necessary for health. For this reason it is not 
wise for those who live inland to rely upon this class 
of food, except such as may be secured from bodies 
of water near home. Fresh fish is firm, with no evi¬ 
dence of discoloration. Scales and eyes should be 
bright, gills red and fins firm. One should study the 
comparative value of the different varieties, as there 
is great difference in nutritive worth, largely due to 
the greater amount of fat in some, such as salmon. 

In general white fleshed fish has the oil confined in 
the liver and is therefore apt to be a little more digesti¬ 
ble than the dark fleshed fish where the oil is distribu¬ 
ted throughout the body. Note: Whitefish, halibut, 
etc.; salmon, mackerel and bluefish. There is a decided 
difference in texture, firmness and price. 

Haddock is an excellent cheap fish for frying, be¬ 
ing firmer than cod. It is usually from 8 to 10 cents a 
pound. Halibut is the preference of the more expen¬ 
sive, costing from 14 to 18 cents. There is less waste 
in halibut, as the slices are from so large a fish that 


Selecting 1 


Kinds 


Haddock 


4 


Paking 


Boiling 


Local 

Varieties 


154 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

the head and tail are not included as in smaller fish. 
This should be taken into account in ordering. 

Cod and bluefish are usually selected from the cheap 
fish for baking. Haddock is also good. The bluefish 
is preferred by most, being somewhat dry and of sweet 
flavor. It is always to be distinguished by a dark 
line running along each side from head to tail. 
While cod and haddock are in season throughout the 
year, bluefish are in season only from May to October 
except as they are frozen and kept in cold storage. A 
frozen fish is not as desirable as fresh, so that the sea¬ 
son will govern choice somewhat. Halibut and mack¬ 
erel are good to bake. 

In selecting fish for boiling it is desirable to secure 
a firm fish and a solid piece which can be wrapped in 
cheesecloth and cooked without breaking in pieces. 
Halibut and salmon are especially good for this pur¬ 
pose. Haddock is the best of the three cheaper fish 
already mentioned. 

The fish already mentioned are those which are best 
as ordinarily found in the city markets. Many other 
varieties which are very delicious when freshly caught 
lose in flavor so much that it is not very satisfactory 
to try to serve them except when one may secure them 
strictly fresh. Trout, flounders and perch are ex¬ 
amples. It is an excellent plan to have some system 
of tables showing the season of such foods as have 
a distinct season which can be hung.on kitchen wall 
or other available place to show at a glance the most 


FISH 


i55 


desirable times to buy the various foods. For ex¬ 
ample, for fish: 


The Season of Fish 


Variety. 

Price. 

S3 

<3 

Feb. 

Sh 

c3 

3 

April 

May 

June 

July 

Aug. 

Sept. 

4-> 

O 

O 

O 

Season 
6 of Fish 

V 

A 

Bass—Striped 
or black .... 

Bluefish . 

Butter. 

Cod. 

(To be 
filled in 
from lo¬ 
cal mar¬ 
ket.) 













Flounders.... 
Haddock.... 

























Halibut. 













Herring.. 

TiOhstev.. 













Mackerel ..... 

Perch. 

Pickerel 













Salmon. 

Shad 













Smelts. 

Sword. 

Trout. 

Weak. 

White.. 







The same general directions hold for buying - shell shell 

11, .'T11 Fish 

fish. Clams, oysters and lobster are not suitable to be 
eaten unless strictly fresh and procured from sources 
of which the healthfulness of the supply is assured. 
Injurious preservatives are sometimes used in shipping 
to the middle and Western states. Clams and lobster 
may be purchased the year round. Oysters, scallops 
and shrimps are in season from September to March. 

Fish is not a substitute for meat in nutritive value, be¬ 
cause it has less fat but makes a pleasant change for 
those who are able to purchase under favorable con¬ 
ditions. 



































































VEGETABLES 


Season 

and 

Prices 


Liberal 

Supply- 


Vegetables are classified according to their form as 
follows: 


Potatoes 

Turnips 

Parsnips 

Roots and Tubers < Beets 

Onions 
Radishes 
t Carrots 

( Lettuce 

Salad Plants - Chicory 
( Romaine 


Fruit Vegetables 


Corn 
Pumpkin 
Peas 
I Beans 
Squash 
Tomato 
Cucumbers 
Egg Plant 


Flower Vegetables 


I Cauliflower 
( Cabbage 


In buying one should watch the market for the sea¬ 
son, as it will vary somewhat. Vegetables which were 
formerly confined very exclusively to their season are 
to be purchased now at almost any time in large city 
markets which are supplied by hot houses and by ship¬ 
ping from greater distances than was possible before 
methods of shipping became so superior as at the 
present time. Yet the higher prices which prevail for 
fruit and vegetables which are out of season prevent 
a great number from buying except when the prices 
are normal. Nor is this a thing altogether to be de¬ 
plored. It is a great mistake to relv to any large 
extent upon such products since the quality is never 
equal to that of products grown under natural condi¬ 
tions, while the frequent use of a vegetable throughout 
the year takes away the keen enjoyment to be realized 
by those who are content to take each as its season 
brings it. Vegetables are a very important article 
of diet and should be liberally supplied at all times. 
For those who have learned to eat all varieties there 

156 








VEGETABLES 


157 


is very fair variety of those which keep through the 
winter. The different varities with season and aver¬ 
age price will be found in the following table: 

Season of Vegetables 


Variety. 

Price 

P3 

cS 

Feb. 

Mar. 

u 

ft 

< 

May 

J une 

July 

tb 

P 

< 

Sept. 

4-3 

O 

O 

j Nov. 

Dec. 

t 

Artichokes.. 

Asparagus. 

Beets . 

5c qt 

15c pk. 

.x. 

.... 

.... 

,x. 



.X. 





Cabbage. 

10c head 
10c “ 





1 




■ X. 



Cauliflower. 





"f 



.X. 




Carrots . 












Celery. 

Chicory 

8c head 
ICc “ 

8c doz. 

2c each 
10c “ 

15c peck 

30c lb. 

40c hun. 
15c peck 

15c b’nch 
3c lb. 

10c peck 

75c bu. 









.X. 

.... 

.x. 


Corn.. 

Oncumbers 

x. 

.... 

.x. 

.... 



K! Lor Pla.nt 

.... 






Greens — 

S Beet,.. 

) Dandelion .... 

Mushroom s. 

X. 

.... 

.... 




Okra. 

Onions . 






.... 


.x. 

.... 




Oyster Plant or 
Salsify. 

T^a/rsniTVs: 









.... 

X. 

.x. 

.... 







.X. 







Potatoes— 

















X. 




Pumpkins. 

Radishes.. 

Rhubarb.. 

2c lb. 

3c b’nch 
2c lb. 

10c head 
15c peck 

3c each 
2c lb. 

10c qt. 

5c qt. 

2 c lb. 

.X. 



















Squash- 
Summer . 

"Win t,p.r 







. x. 


.X. 



x. 












. X. 













.X. 
















X marks the height of the season, or when it is at its best. 

The prices given are the lowest, or those at the height of the season. 




































































































Quantity 
for Serving 


Selecting: 

Vegetables 


158 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

It is sometimes puzzling to determine the quantity 
to order for the number of persons to be served.- The 
following estimates may be a guide: 


Artichokes, 1 quart. 

Asparagus, 1 hunch. 

Beets, 1 bunch (5) . 

Cabbage, 1 good, solid . 

Cauliflower, 1 small. 

good size. 

Carrots, 1 large one. 

“ small bunch . 

Celery, 1 head (3 bunches). 

Chicory, 1 head.. 

Corn, 1 doz.. 

Cucumber, .1.(in salad).. 

“ “.(sliced).. 

Egg Plant, medium. 

Greens, 1 pk. 

Onions, 1 qt. 

Oyster Plant, 5 stalks. 

Parsnips, 2 (1 lb.). 

Peas, 1 pk... 

Radishes, 1 bunch. 

Rhubarb, lib.(in sauce).. 

Romaine, 1 head. 

String Beans, 1 qt. 

Tomatoes, 1 qt. (5). 

Turnips, 1 (2% lbs.). 


will serve " people. 
“ “ 4 

“ 6-8 
“ 8 “ 

“ .. 4.(5 

“ “ 8 
it a 2 u 

“ 4 

“ *• 8-12 

“ 4 

“ “ 11-12 
“ “ 4 

“ “ 2-3 

“ “ 6-8 
“ “ 6 - 8 ' “ 

“ “ 4-6 

“ “ 6-8 
“ “ 4.6 

,. .. 4 . 6 

“ “ 4-6 

“ “ 6 
“ “ 4-6 

“ “ 4 

“ g “ 

“ “ 4-8 


All vegetables should be fresh, as it is very difficult 
to cook those that are wilted and they lose much in 
flavor. Greens and salad plants should be crisp and 
tender without evidences of lying until bruised and 
partially decayed. Cabbage and cauliflower should 
have solid heads and not be discolored. Medium-sized 
vegetables are preferable to either extreme, usually. 
If small there is large waste, while too large ones are 
apt to be coarse and woody in texture. This applies 
especially to beets, parsnips, peas, beans, rhubarb, etc. 
The heavier potatoes are in proportion to their size 
the better, but medium sized ones are less likely to 
have hollow hearts. The varieties differ greatly as 





























VEGETABLES 


159 


to quality. One must, in general, learn.by trial the 
best to be obtained in the local market. The Early 
Rose is an excellent variety. 

In selecting pumpkins choose a heavy one with 
hard shell and deep yellow color.* Of winter squashes, 
the dark green Hubbard is the best. It should be very 
hard and good sized. The crooked neck is the best 
variety of summer squash. The evergreen and coun¬ 
try gentleman are excellent varieties of sweet corn. 
Spanish onions are the best, being more delicate than 
native but are somewhat higher in price. 

ANIMAL PRODUCTS 

Butter, milk and eggs are all of a nature to require 
the utmost care in purchasing and in storing before 
use. They are easily tainted so as to be spoiled for 
one of sensitive taste, while milk, especially, is proba¬ 
bly the most frequent transmiter of disease, with the 
exception of water, of all our foods and drinks. Butter 
should be of the best, but a high price is not always a 
test of merit. While some creamery butters bring a 
very high price and take high awards for flavor, so 
that creamery butter as a whole commands a higher 
price than dairy butter, it is not the most desirable. All 
good creameries maintain a high sanitary standard 
and conditions under which the butter is made are 
doubtless superior to those in the majority of private 
dairies, vet one must go back of the creameries to the 
farms from which the creameries are supplied to de¬ 
termine the final healthfulness of the product. It is 


Sauashes 

and 

Pumpkins 


Butter 

Milk 

Eggs 




Source 
of Milk 
Supply 


Testing 

Egg 3 


160 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

here that the difficulty lies with creamery butter, since 
th® farmers that keep the poorest cows and who do not 
understand dairying under right conditions are those 
that supply the creameries, so that one cannot be sure 
that butter made from the cream produced under such 
conditions is healthful. It is far better, so far as is 
possible, to buy from an approved private dairy. 

The same may be said of the milk supply. One 
should follow to its source and know without a ques¬ 
tion that there can be no pollution if any milk is con¬ 
sumed in a raw state by the family. This becomes 
doubly imperative where there are children in the 
family. If necessary, a cent or two more in price per 
bottle is little for the sake of safety. 

Eggs are highest in price in winter. A housekeeper 
may take advantage of low prices in the spring or 
fall by buying a supply in advance, but she cannot do 
this unless she can be sure of a cool place to store 
them and is willing to take the trouble to coat each 
egg over so that the air may not penetrate the shell. 
Wrapping each in separate paper is a fairly good pro¬ 
tection. Care must be used not to use anything that 
will cause an unpleasant flavor, as the shells are very 
porous and the contents readily acquire odors of any¬ 
thing near. A io per cent solution of silicate of soda 
is an excellent preservative. 

A salt solution is a good test of the freshness of an 
egg. Two tablespoonfuls of salt for a quart of water 
may be used. Tf fresh, the egg will sink in it; if not 


% 






DRY GROCERIES i6r 

perfectly fresh, will show signs of rising, while a bad 
egg will float at once. 

DRY GROCERIES 

While most of what has been discussed in the pre¬ 
vious pages relates to food which must be purchased 
as needed, because perishable, there is a class in buy¬ 
ing which much time and thought may be saved by 
supplying enough for at least a month in advance. 
This is dry groceries such as sugar, flour, cereals, 
flavorings, coffee (unroasted), tea, chocolate, spices, 
soap, starch, and all like necessities. 

A store-closet large enough to allow the purchase 

% 

of these things at a wholesale store, and so arranged 
as to temperature, dryness, light and ventilation as to 
keep them in perfect condition is a saving so great 
as to astonish one who trys the method for the first 
time. Often the difference amounts to twenty per cent. 

Sugar should be bought by the hundred weight at 
least, flour by the barrel, canned goods by the dozen 
or better by the case, cereals by the dozen packages 
after the fresh fall supply is in, vanilla by the quart 
(at the drug store to secure better quality), baking 
powder by the 5-pound box from which smaller quan¬ 
tities are transferred as needed to the box in use, soap 
by the box, that it may have a chance to dry out thor¬ 
oughly and so waste less readily, and so on through 
a long list. For a very small family the list would 
naturally he shorter. Anything that does not deteri- 


Storagre 


Quantities 


Brand 
of Goods 


Adulterations 


Percentage 
in Saving 


Judgment 


162 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

orate in storage can be bought to much greater advan¬ 
tage in quantity. 

In groceries it is not well to buy an inferior grade. 
Here the best is the cheapest and wisest, especially in 
these days of intense competition and fraud. It is well 
to know a good brand and insist upon having it. For¬ 
eign labels are not a surety of a good grade of goods, 
in fact some of our best American firms put up their 
best quality of spices, for instance, under their own 
name and the poorer grades are labeled with French 
labels and sold to firms that deal in a cheaper line of 
goods. 

Through the reports of the Government upon adul¬ 
teration as given in the Bulletins and the report of 
different state and city inspectors one may ascertain 
to some extent which are reliable and which are not. 

CONCLUSION 

The household manager should learn to think in 
percentages. One cent less on a ten cent article seems 
a trivial saving, yet it is ten per cent—ten dollars in 
every hundred. It is fair to state that there will be a 
difference in money paid of from ten to twenty per 
cent between careless and careful purchases. 

It should be remembered that the customer who 
knozvs and is particular receives the best of goods and 
services. 

The successful business man is an expert in judging 
the materials in which he deals; he is perfectly familiar 
with the range of prices and quick to take advantage 


DRY GROCERIES 


of all favorable conditions. The household manager 
needs to be just as familiar with all the goods which 
relate to the home and with their prices. 

One becomes an expert only through experience, but 
experience is not gained simply by ordering goods; 
appearance must be noted carefully and results com¬ 
pared intelligently to acquire the trained eye and the 
trained judgment necessary to the successful house¬ 
hold manager. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Art of Right Living ($0.50), Ellen H. Richards. 

Cost of Living ($1.00), Ellen H. Richards. 

Cost of Food ($1.00), Ellen H. Richards. 

Domestic Service ($2.00), Lucy M. Salmon. 

Economic Function of Woman ($0*15), E. T. Divine. 

Family Living on $500 a Year ($1.25), J. Corson. 

Home Economics ($1.50), Maria Parloa. 

Household Economics ($1.50), Helen Campbell. 

The Woman Who Spends ($i.oo), B. J. Richardson. 

Toilers in the Home ($1.50), Lillian Pettengill. 

Woman and Economics ($1.50), Charlotte Perkins Gilman. 
Woman’s Share in Primitive Culture (Si.75), Otis T. Mason. 

U. S. Government Bulletins 

Farmer’s Bulletin, No. 142, The Nutritive and Economic Value 
of Food (Free). 

Farmer’s Bulletin, No. 183, Meat on the Farm. 

Reprint Year Book 1902, The Cost of Food as Related fco its 
Nutritive Value (Free). 

Office of Experiment Stations, No. 129, Dietary Studies in 
Boston, Springfield, Philadelphia and Chicago (10 cents, 
coin). 

Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 391, Economical Use of Meats in the 
Home (Free) 


The Expert 

Household 

Manager 


rEST QUESTIONS 


The following questions constitute the “written reci¬ 
tation” which the regular members of the A. S. H. E. 
answer in writing and send in for the correction and 
comment of f he instructor. They are intended to 
emphasize and fix in the memory the most important 
points in the lesson. 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


PART III 


Read Carefully. Place your name and address on the 
first sheet of the test. Use a light grade of paper and write 
on one side of the sheet only. Ueave space between an¬ 
swers. Read the lesson paper a number of times before 
answering the questions. Answer fully. 


1. What factors combine to make meat suitable for 

the table? 

2. (a) By what should one be governed in select¬ 

ing a cut of beef? (b) What cuts have you 
found especially satisfactory? 

3. How is a side of beef cut up in your own mar¬ 

ket? What are the prices? 

4. Describe the “bottom round,” stating its location 

in the animal, quality, suitable uses, approxi¬ 
mate value, etc. 

5. Compare with “top round.” 

6. Compare a cut from the brisket with the flank 

cut. 

7. What cuts of beef have you never used ? 

8. Have you any especially satisfactory methods of 

preparing cheap cuts, other than noted in these 
books ? 

9. Describe a desirable piece of salt pork. 




HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


io. A satisfactory fowl to roast. 
it. A satisfactory roast of pork. 

12. The best cut of steak. 

13. French lamb chops. 

14. What objections are there to canned meats? 

15. Compare fish with meat as a food. 

16. Make a table giving the season and prices of 

vegetables to be obtained in your local market 
{ . similar to that on page 137. 

17. State objections for excessive use of vegetables 

out of season. 

18. What answer would you give a mother who 

states that her children like no vegetables ex¬ 
cept canned tomato, preferring it to the fresh 
fruit even in season, and asks if there is any 
harm in letting them have it exclusively, every 
meal ? 

19. Have vou tried buying any groceries in quantity? 

If so. with what success in price, quality, and 
keeping ? 

20,. What purchases do you find hardest to make? 
Why ? 

21. Can you add any suggestions or comments to 

help others? 

22. Are there any questions you would like to ask 

relating to Household Management? 

Note.—After completing this test, sign your full name. 


SUPPLEMENT 

HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

By Bertha M. Terrill, A. B. 

A rare opportunity is afforded us, through these 
correspondence courses, of sharing the experiences of 
many different housekeepers of widely differing loca- 
ations and conditions. Through this supplement I 
am glad to have the opportunity of passing on the 
most valuable contributions, and I anticipate that they 
will amplify helpfully the material of the text. 

DIFFERING OPINIONS 

In some points there has seemed to be universal 
agreement. In others, there have been flatest contra¬ 
dictions of opinions, amusingly so, sometimes, if one 
could forget the trials and struggles involved. One, 
for instance, affirms with much positiveness that help 
by the hour, in place of resident labor, is entirely im¬ 
possible. ‘‘How can shop and ,store hours be com¬ 
pared with those in a house, or the work be re¬ 
adjusted to conform to such a plan? Hasn’t the prob¬ 
lem two sides? Is it unreasonable of me to desire a 
late dinner when we are hurried at breakfast, irregu¬ 
lar for luncheon, and dinner at night is the only meal 
the family may take together and enjoy leisurely?” 
The next paper taken up assured me, no less posi¬ 
tively, that the plan is admirable, the writer has tried 

167 


168 


IIO US EH OLD M A N A GEMEN T 


it and finds it a great relief and no more expensive, all 
things considered. 

LAUNDRY WORK 

The question of laundry work, done in the house 
or sent out, brought forth as contradictory views, al¬ 
though such conclusions could easily be derived as 
that all would find it a relief to send laundry work out 
if it could be done as well, under as sanitary condi¬ 
tions, and no more expensively. (Not many seemed 
to have much idea of the actual difference in expense.) 
It was easy to see, also, that in practically no com¬ 
munity thus far reported from, are there satisfactory 
laundries, and prices are reported as too high to be 
tolerated. Where are the clubs ready to devote some 
of their time and attention to the solution of this 
problem for their communities? One has done so, 
very satisfactorily. 

These differences of opinion spring largely from the 
great differences in local conditions and in personal 
experiences, yet they emphasize the fact that each 
home has its own peculiar problems to be worked out, 
and the most that can be hoped for from suggestion 
from without is the laying of fundamental principles, 
together with opportunity of studying the experience 
of others as a guide in deciding our own course of 
action. 

DIVISION OF INCOME 

There is less material contributed on Household 
Accounts than I could wish, less, I hope, than may 


DIVISION OF INCOME 


i6y 


be in a few years, if all the housekeepers who have 
registered resolves to know more of this side of their 
business in future, live up to their intention. Evi¬ 
dently one in fifty would be a generous estimate of 
those who keep anything bordering upon helpful ac¬ 
counts at present, even among our students. 

Fortunately some have been keeping careful rec¬ 
ords and the papers of such have been full of in¬ 
terest. They show that the budgets given in the text 
are fair—both the actual and the ideal, for some 
rarely wise, able women are finding the ideal budget 
possible today and are living close to its standard. 

I wish it were possible to present every detail of 
the management of such, that “he who runs may read” 
their valuable lessons. There is no evidence of un¬ 
worthy curtailment. One catches, on the contrary, 
the spirit of highest, worthiest enjoyments and con¬ 
tentment. 

Here is one in a city of an Eastern state, where 
husband and wife without children have an income of 
$1,200 in yearly salary, paid monthly, 


MONTHLY BUDGET, FAMILY OF TWO 

OUTGO. 


Rent 


$16.00 


For 3 rooms and bath on 2nd floor, with 
storage and cellar privileges. Low for 
location. 


Car fares . 

Food .• .. 

Average per year not over $15.00. 

Operating expenses . 

Gas, light and heat, average. 


• $ 3-50 
$22.50 


$6.50 

3-50 







I/O 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Laundry *.• •. 1.50 

Cleaning, 2 half days. 1.50 

Life Insurance . 7.00 

Investment • ..10.00 

Personal allowances .30.00 

Incidentals . 4.50 


Total . 


Each is allowed $15.00 for clothing, gifts, charity, 
higher life and personal saving. 

A physician’s family of four in Southern California 
with income of $1,500, spend for rent 10 per cent, 
operating ' expenses 33 per cent, food 25 per cent, 
clothing 15 per cent, and higher life 17 per cent, 
while a family of four in Montana with the same in¬ 
come ($1,500) rent a good-sized house with yard 
large enough for kitchen garden and small poultry 
yard for $18 a month, or 14 2-5 per cent, and spend 
for operating expenses 15 per cent, food 20 per cent, 
clothing 18 per cent and higher life 30 per cent. 

These three are interesting taken together, as show¬ 
ing some conditions which lie practically beyond in¬ 
dividual control, yet which may have decided effect 
upon the result. The operating expenses in the physi¬ 
cian’s family, for instance, have to cover office rental, 
care, lighting, heating, telephone, etc., which is 
in reality not a part of the household expenses. Con¬ 
trast also the accommodations possible in the East¬ 
ern city at $16 rent per month, and that very low 
for the place, and those available in Montana for a 
similar price. 










DIVISION OF INCOME 


It has long been observed that salaries and wages 
do not vary in different localities in any way com¬ 
mensurate with the great difference in living expenses. 

In Washington, D. C., a family of husband, wife 
and four children, aged 6 to 16 years, with income 
of $1,500, spend for rent $360, operating expenses 
$80 to $90, food $400, clothing $350, with balance 
of $300 for higher life. 

MONTHLY DIVISION OF $125 


Rent .••.$25 

Food . 30 

Fuel and Gas. 10 

Clothing ... 10 

Laundry . 5 

Furniture . 10 

Higher Life .. 10 

Bank Account . 25 


“Three members of the family who are not at 
home during midday take lunch consisting of buttered 
toast or bread and preserves that I had put up dur¬ 
ing the summer. We do not use cereal at every 
breakfast nor do we have dessert after every dinner, 
but about four times a week. I have used tomatoes 
rather frequently, although they are high in price, 
but we enjoy them and prefer them to something else 
costing less. I ‘can’ my own fruit which can be used 
in many ways as a dessert. 

“Out of $30 I spend $10 for such provisions as 
sugar, tea, coffee, butter, flour, meal, lard, yeast, 
powder, salt, pepper, cereals, starch, blue, soap, etc. 










1/2 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


This gives $20 for meats and vegetables and the 
family is thus maintained on $5 a week. 

“My son makes all fires and goes errands, cleans 
front and back yard. My daughter arranges the 
table, airs bed rooms and puts them in order before 
going to school. Once a week my laundress scrubs 
kitchen and cleans vestibule, front porch and bath 
room. I superintend the cooking and house in gen¬ 
eral. My husband frequently aids in marketing.” 


MENU FOR A WEEK 

Sunday 
(Breakfast) 

Fruit—Oranges (Two cut in half) 

Sliced llain (broiled) Scrambled Eggs (two) 

Hot corn bread (two eggs) 

Coffee (with cream ) 

(Dinner) 

Roast of Beef 

Mashed potatoes Cream of asparagus on toast. 

Bread—with butter. Lettuce Salad. 

Rice pudding. 

Monday 
(Breakfast) 

Cream of Wheat. 

Scrapple (fried crisp) 


Hot Biscuits. 


Sliced Tomatoes. 


Coffee. 

(Dinner) 

Sliced Beef heated in meat sauce. 

Boiled Onions Cream Sauce (a la cream) 
Rice. Celery Salad (celery, eggs, spring onions and parsley) 
Bread. Tea. 

Tuesday 

(Breakfast) 

Oat Meal. 

Bacon. Egg Omelet (with parsley) 

Wheat Muffins, Coffee. 


DIVISION OF INCOME 


173 


(Dinner) 

Clear Soup. 

Brown Hash. Beauregard Eggs on, toast. 

Sliced Oranges and bananas with cocoanut. 

Wednesday 

(Breakfast) 

Sausage Corn Muffins, with butter. 

Poached Eggs. Coffee. 

(Dinner) 

Ham (Boiled) Spinach with Egg (hard cooked). 

Bread. 

Sweet Potatoes Delmonico (potatoes and cheese) 
Prunes. Tea or Cocoa. 

Thursday 

(Breakfast) 

Cream of Wheat with bananas and milk. 

Frizzled Beef. Toast (buttered) 

Sliced Tomatoes. 


(Dinner) 

Soup. (Vegetable). 

Ham Croquettes with Tomato Sauce. 

*■ Macaroni with Cheese. 

Pickle. Bread. Celery Salad. 

Canned Peaches (Home Made.) 


Friday 

(Breakfast) 

Cream of Salmon. 

Hot Biscuits. 

(Dinner) 

Baked Shad, or Trout. 

Sliced Tomatoes with Salad 
Corn Bread. 


Potato Chips. 
Coffee. 

Mashed Potatoes. 
Dressing. 

Tea. 


Saturday 
(Breakfast) 
Mush with milk. 

Bacon. Scrambled Eggs. 

Plain Bread or Toast. 

(Dinner) 

Sliced Ham. 

Boiled Potatoes. 

Apple Sauce. 


Potato Chips. 
Coffee. 

Creamed Cabbage. 
Bread. 

Tea. 


i ?4 


H O US EH OLD MA N A GEMEN T 


DIVISION OF $4,500 

Family in Providence, R. I., physician, wife, two 
children, two maids, laundress one and a half days a 
week: 


• Rent, io per cent .$4 50 

Food, 14 per cent .• •. . 6 30 

Operating expenses, 20 per cent.... 900 

Clothing, 9 per cent . ....$405 

Incidentals, 2 per cent . 90 

Office Expense, 25 per cent.11 25 

Higher Life, savings, etc., 20 per cent 900 


Total .. $45 00 


DETAILS OF OPERATING EXPENSES. 

Services (including wages of 2 
maids, laundry, ashes removed, 
snow shoveled, rugs beaten, win¬ 


dows washed, etc ^.#. .$5 50 

Fuel ... 1 30 

Lighting .. 60 

Telephone . 64 

Water tax . 16 

Ice .. 20 

Flousehold Supplies . 6a 


Total .$900 


She says: “Nothing is more helpful to the practice 
of economy than a record from year to year of all 
expenditures. I have been a more successful house¬ 
keeper since I began keeping careful accounts. I have 
reduced my monthly food bill from $60 to $50 and less 
since I offered my cook 10 per cent on what we 
saved each month.” 


. 


















DIVISION OF INCOME 


175 


FOOD ECONOMY 

The practice of wise economies has been so success¬ 
ful and gratifying in one family of my acquaintance 
within the past few years that I must share some of 
the details with those interested. 

The mother has succeeded in saving enough in four 
years to take herself and son on a European trip as a 
supplement to his education. The family live in the 
middle West and consist of three ladies and a boy of 
eighteen. 

The mother writes: “I am almost ashamed to 
mention the small sum we live on. It is by saving all 
left-overs, and by the exercise of quite a little fore¬ 
thought and some self-denial that it is accomplished. 
I do not mean to practice economy at the expense of 
health, however." The daily average for each person 
for the year for good material was 12 2-5 cents one 
year, 86 4-5 cents a week, another, 85 1-6 cents. 

A small garden, cared for on shares, aided some¬ 
what, although not largely, ft supplied apples and 
pears in season and for preserving and a part of the 
summer vegetables and potatoes. 

Sample menus with the hints accompanying them 
will be as suggestive as anything could be, to show 
the methods of economy. 

On a basis of 85 to 90 cents per person a week: 

Winter—Breakfast, 6 130 a. m. 

Oatmeal with cream and sugar. 

Bread of Franklin mills and Pillsbury flours mixed. 


i/6 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Muffins or pancakes. 

Butter. 

Postum with 1-3 hot skimmed milk. 

Jelly or fruit syrup. 

In summer various wheat cereals are used, as Ral¬ 
ston’s Breakfast Food, Cream of Wheat and the like. 

I11 the spring toast and eggs occasionally. 

* * 

Dinner—12 m. 

1. Stuffed beefs heart. 

Stewed onions. Mashed potatoes. 

Spiced pears. 

Entire wheat bread and butter. 

Gelatine dessert with whipped cream. 

2. Remains of beef’s heart warmed. 

Creamed turnips. 

Fried mashed potatoes. Green tomato pickles. 

Rice with butter and sugar. 

Not more than two hearts are served in a year. 
They are excellent for variety, but not desirable too 
often. A variety of meats and vegetables is given. In 
a three weeks' menu a chicken appears, serving two 
meals, roast pork, mutton chops, oysters, Hamburg 
steak, creamed dried beef, cod fish, salmon with 
white sauce, beef steak and boiled ham. The meat 
from soup bones is used in a pie or seasoned well and 
served on toast. Two turkeys arc served in a season. 
A good roast once a month and steak or chops once 
a week. 

Occasionally a bisque or other soup is served when 


FOOD ECONOMY 


1 77 


the materials are at hand, but, as a rule, the soup 
course is omitted with meats, being reserved for days 
when fish or lighter courses are served. 

There is never a spoonful of anything wasted. A 
cupful of corn left from one dinner is scalloped for 
the next. A little tomato may be added to it for a 
change. Spoonfuls of fruit left from suppers are 
made into dumplings for dessert. Pies are seldom 
served. Hickory nuts and dates are a favorite dessert. 
Tomatoes are home-canned. Lima beans are used oc¬ 
casionally as one vegetable. 

When spring comes and eggs are plentiful omelettes 
are used, milk and egg puddings and custards. 

Supper—5 p. m. 

Bread and butter. 

Buns, cinnamon rolls, etc., cookies, gingersnaps or 

cake. 

Fruit. Cheese. 

Peanut butter or a little cold meat. Sometimes milk 
toast, warmed potatoes or macaroni. 

If for guests, pressed veal, scalloped oysters with 
olives and jelly in addition. 

A great variety of fruits is used. All varieties are 
preserved. In summer and fall fruit is a frequent 
dessert. 

We are all more or less familiar with the enforced 
economies of life, but this is an example of voluntary 
curtailing for a larger good, without harm. Would that 
more homes could catch the spirit of this housekeeper 


IIO USB HOLD MA NA GEMEN T 


178 

who writes: “There are so many things I rather 
spend money for than for food!" 

I11 a study of present standards of life as interpreted 
through facts in regard to food (Report of Lake 
Placid Conference on Home' Economics, 1902) some 
things are emphasized which many housekeepers are 
ignoring, wilfully or otherwise, and which affect the 
cost of living seriously as well as the comfort and 
health of the family. 

The data was gathered from homes in which the 
wage-earners were professional men. Wherever sev¬ 
eral maids were employed the increase in expense of 
food is disproportionately large. A family of three 
is instanced. 

With three employes, cook, waitress and companion, 
with income of $3,400, 26.5 per cent is spent for food. 
In contrast, a family of the same size with $100 less 
income, that employs a nurse maid and one general 
helper, spends only 13.9 per cent for food. In the 
first case much of the ordering and preparation of the 
food is left to employes; in the latter the housekeeper 
attends to the ordering and plans the meals herself. 

The menus submitted at that time show a surprising 
lack of variety and an ignorance of simple, inexpensive 
foods that can be used interchangeably. “Soups were 
very little used. Cheaper cuts of meat almost invari¬ 
ably took the form of stews. In no case were lentils 
or peas substituted for beans. Fish, which is one of 
the less expensive and most digestible foods, was 



FOOD ECONOMY 


179 


used sparingly. Macaroni, spaghetti, rice, hominy and 
other cereals were almost never substituted for pota¬ 
toes. The possibilities of cheese seemed quite unex¬ 
plored. 1 here was very little variety in vegetables in 
spite of the fact that in almost every case the families 
lived in large cities where the markets were bewil- 
deringly rich with a great variety.” 

These facts a**e but further evidence of the mis¬ 
conception in these days, on the part of many, of the 
duties of the housekeeper. What greater duty can 
she have than looking after her share of the business 
engagement entered into when she assumed the re¬ 
sponsibilities of a home and pledged herself to faith¬ 
fulness in her part ? 

These duties are worthy of, yes, require, if properly 
attended to, the mental ability and intelligent care and 
interest of the trained, skillful women who assume 
them, and it is a pity that so many homes are being 
wrecked and others falling far short of their finest 
possibilities because of such neglect. I sometimes try 
to picture the outcry there would be if the wage- 
earners in our homes were equally lax in their respon¬ 
sibilities of providing! And yet, as I have tried to 
point out in the text, care in the consumption is as 
important in the home-finance as is providing, and 
the difference in comfort is greater, proportionately. 

What is to start a great wave of pride over our 
land that shall stir every home-maker who is at pres¬ 
ent indifferent to, or ignorant of these great facts, 


i8o 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


with an ambition to prove her right to her position 
and make her a worthy partner in her home-world, 
not a mere enjoyer of another's strenuous labor! 

I know protest will at once arise in the form of such 
questions as “Where is the overworked home-maker 
to find time to do any more?” “What if the hus¬ 
bands prefer to hire help that their wives may have 
freer, happier lives?” “What can- women do who 
haven't strength to assume such duties ?” 

If you ask, I must answer frankly, that the noble 
home-makers whom I look upon with unbounded re¬ 
spect, and whose homes and lives are a constant uplift 
to all who know them, never seem to have difficulty in 
adjusting these matters. Do we not all know, in 
reality, that time is ours, after all, to spend as we 
choose to spend it. We may have fallen into the poor 
method, have followed the way of all about ns until 
it seems imperative to spend it all as we do, but if 
we looked at these matters as really serious we should 
find adjustment some way. Health and strength arc 
so largely in our keeping, also! Confusion of too 
many outside interests, over excitement, lack of well- 
ordered, systematic living are depriving many a woman 
of the life rightfully hers. Lack of sufficient healthful 
exercise does the same for others. How few seem to 
understand it! At least the results would seem to 
indicate it. 


DOMESTIC SERVICE 


i8l 


DOMESTIC SERVICE 

And now we come to the perplexing, annoying 
problems of Domestic Service! We wish we had some 
elective solutions to offer! Some women, in dis¬ 
cussing the condition, have contributed valuable hints 
regarding successful methods employed which, if not 
wholly new, might well be reconsidered by many an 
employer. 

Hugo Miinsterberg, contrasting conditions in Amer¬ 
ica and Germany, writes: “The conviction of every 
American girl that it is dignified to work in a mill, 
but undignified to be a cook in any other family, would 
never have reached its present intensity if an anti¬ 
domestic feeling were not in the background. If we 
seek for the most striking features of woman’s work 
here and abroad, it would seem that the aim of the 
Get man woman is to further the interests of the house¬ 
hold and the American to escape from the household.” 

It is a striking fact that in almost every instance 
the students who have written on the subject place the 
lion’s share of the fault with the employer. What 
inference shall we draw ? It reminds us of a School 
of Housekeeping which was started to train employes, 
but after a two years’ study of conditions it was 
changed to a course for employers in recognition of 
the fact that they, first, needed training. 

I quote below from a few of the papers: 

'‘All who have help do not need it, many can ill 
afford it. Some time ago I heard the eldest daughter 


] 82 


H O US EH O LD MA N A GEME N T 


of a family of five girls urging her mother to get a 
servant since they were now in a large house. The 
mother asked what a servant would do in a family 
of so many girls. In reply the girl said, ‘we shan't 
be considered anybody if we don't have a servant.’ 

‘‘It is in a spirit like this that much of the trouble 
lies. When women are willing themselves to learn 
the art of good housekeeping and are willing to do a 
part of it, no matter how small the share, to show the 
interest, and then by kindness, gentleness and thought¬ 
fulness seek to help the servants along in the world, 
the situation will be greatly improved." 

It is the women with this spirit and attitude who 
are having least trouble. 

"I always employ intelligent help and do by them 
as I wish to be done by. When a young girl is intel¬ 
ligent one has splendid material to work with in train¬ 
ing her to do as you would your own daughter. 

"I have had help, who, after leaving my home when 
I needed help no longer, would return at odd times 
for a half day when they thought I stood in need 
and offer to give me their time without pay, wishing 
thus to show their appreciation of my kindness toward 
them. I believe my success is due to consideration 
and thoughtfulness of their little fancies. 

“Thoughtfulness goes a great way in winning the 
love of one’s help. When I do my shopping I always 
remember my help as any other member of my family, 
not with the thought of being repaid in services, but 
through kindness. T have no patience with the person 


DOMESTIC SERVICE 


183 

who does another a kindness merely to gain some 
selfish point.” 

One woman attributes her success to personal at¬ 
tachment and a consequent desire to please. She 
says: 

“So few have any idea of how to buy clothes or get 
any value for their money that I made it a point to 
show them how they could have good clothes inside 
and out instead of the showy things they were hav¬ 
ing. They appreciated the interest I took in them. 
I think that women who employ are themselves largely 
responsible for the conditions of domestic affairs. 
Reprimanding before others, constant nagging and 
giving few liberties are the methods of many.” 

“Most women in service change in the hope of ‘bet¬ 
tering’ themselves, which is laudable but often disap¬ 
pointing. It would seem profitable for employers to 
devise a scheme of increasing wages at stated inter¬ 
vals until a certain point is reached, after that a sum 
as yearly reward for continued service. I knew a 
family where some such plan has been followed for 
a number of years with great success. The lack of 
promotion in household service must be deadening to 
ambition.” 

A11 Iowa student writes: 

“My observation has been that well ordered house- 
holds and households where the servants know just 
what they must do and be held responsible for, have 
been more successful even though the work was more 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


i «4 

arduous than homes where there was no system, the 
mistress capricious and all sorts of personal service 
was required. I believe that when housekeeping* be¬ 
comes a business, women will have trusted and valued 
employes as do their husbands." 

HELP BY THE HOUR 

Here is an interesting experience of help by the 
hour contributed by^the Director of the School. “After 
our raw boned, unprepossessing, though faithful Irish 
girl married a German with four children (to her 
subsequent regret) we had the usual string of unsatis¬ 
factory maids, so we decided to try help by the hour 
as recommended in Household Management. The fol¬ 
lowing ‘ad’ was put into an evening paper: 

“Wanted —A helper for light housework from 8 
to 12 every morning. No washing. Pay $4.50 a week. 
Extra pay for extra time. 

“We expected to have only a few applicants, but 
that same evening, which was cold and rainy, ten ap¬ 
plied and during the next two days the number was 
raised to over fifty. The first applicant was accepted 
and while she proved fairly satisfactory, some of the 
others who applied looked more promising. After 
about two months we put in another advertisement 
asking for service from 7:30 to 12:00; pay, $4.00 a 
week. This time we had forty applicants. After 
about six months we advertised again, making the 
hours from 7:30 to 12:30, pay $3.50 per week. This 
third time we had about thirty applicants. Under the 


HELP BY THE HOUR 185 

last conditions the rate of pay comes down to 10 cents 
an hour. 

“d his experience would seem to prove conclusively 
that, in Chicago at least, there is no lack of women 
willing to do housework, while it is almost impossible 
to obtain a satisfactory servant at $5.00 a week. Over 
120 women in our locality were anxious for practically 
the same employment under different conditions. 

“The arrangement was not satisfactory as to hours, 
so we made the arrangement with the present helper to 
come at 8 o'clock and stay until 11 and come again 
from 4 130 to 7 130 p. m. every week day, and on Sun- * 
day from 10 until 2 o’clock. This makes forty hours 
per week regularly, the rate of pay being as before, 
10 cents per hour. The worker lives within a ten- 
minute walk. 

‘‘We have a laundress one day a week who does 
the washing and makes a start on the ironing, which 
the helper finishes during the week. She receives 
$1.50 for nine hours' work. 

“Breakfast is a simple meal with us. When we 
have cooked cereal it is cooked the night before. 
Fruit, eggs or bacon, coffee and toast complete the 
meal, which is easily prepared in less than half an 
hour. 

“Breakfast is finished when the helper arrives in 
the morning. She makes the beds, dusts the floors 
and cleans the bath room. Then clears off the break¬ 
fast dishes, washes them and straightens the kitchen 


i86 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


and dining room and is ready for the ironing or for 
any special cleaning. She leaves the table set for 
lunch and goes home to her own lunch. In the after¬ 
noon the helper washes up the luncheon dishes which 
have been rinsed and left in the kitchen; prepares 
dinner and serves it at 6:15. She usually gets the 
dinner dishes washed and leaves the table set for 
breakfast by 7 130, but sometimes has to stay half an 
hour extra if dinner is late. 

“When we wish to go out in the evening we have 
to leave someone with the children, so the helper is 
kept until we return, or if especially late, she stays 
all night for 25 cents extra. The extra time runs from 
nothing to $1.00 a week, according to circumstances. 

“Our experience has been that this is a much less 
expensive arrangement than paying a maid, who sleeps 
and eats in the house and does the laundry work, $5.00 
a week. The helper has no meals in our house unless 
she stays over time, in which case 10 cents is deducted 
for the food and time spent. 

“According to the prize schedules published in the 
department of ‘The Housekeeper and Her Helper' in 
the Ladies’ Home Journal for September, '06, in a 
one-servant household the working time of the maid 
was about 70 hours per week—a fair average. This 
allows for two afternoons a week off and the even¬ 
ings after the evening meal is cleared away but does 
not take into account the time spent bv the maid in 
eating her own meals. This might fairly be reckoned 


HELP BY THE HOUR 


187 


at seven hours a week, leaving a balance of 63 hours 
spent in actual work. I11 most households the food 
which the maid consumes could not be reckoned at less 
than 30 cents a day or say $2.00 a week. If the maid 
receives $5.00 or even $4.50 a week in wages, it is ap¬ 
parent that her services cost over 10 cents an hour 
for the time actually spent in work, allowing nothing 
for the rent of her room and extra supplies and waste. 

"Our experience has been that food bills are a third 
less ($10 to $12 per month) than when we had a resi¬ 
dent maid. This is accounted for in part from the 
bills have averaged $1 a month less than before. Then 
we have the use of the room which the maid would 
occupy and do use it. The proportional rental for the 
room might be reckoned at $4 or $5 per month. 

“With our family of five—two children and a baby 
—housekeeping is a much more difficult problem than 
in the average household. We live in a heated seven- 
room apartment, hot water and janitor service fur¬ 
nished. In summer the washing is appalling and 
sometimes the Hat work is sent to the laundry. It 
seems as if double the amount of cleaning were neces¬ 
sary in a soft coal city like Chicago compared with that 
in a suburb of Boston. Certainly a third more clean¬ 
ing is required. 

"Our experience has been that those who apply 
for work are much more intelligent as a class than the 
general run of servants and that they work very much 
more rapidly and efficiently. More careful planning 


H O US EH OLD MA NA GEMEN T 


188 

3 uid more forethought is necessary than with ‘all the 
time’ help. The feeling of relief comes, however, be¬ 
cause we know, and our helper knows, that plenty 
others to fill her place can be found if she is not satis¬ 
fied with the work, or if she does not come up to our 
requirements. So far as our family is concerned we 
feel that the servant problem has been solved.” 

SYSTEMS OF WORK 

Two systems of work for the week have seemed 
especially suggestive. In the first the housekeeper 
does her own work. I am particularly impressed with 
the wisdom of the plan for Monday. It is always 
harder to have washing come on Monday than on any 
other day. It is simply a long-honored custom. We 
need to break away from such if they are not sensible. 
Extra cleaning is needed Monday when none is done 
on Sunday. 

SCHEDULE 

Monday —Pick-up day after Sunday. Brush Sunday clothes 
and put away. Clean bath room and put clothes to soak 
for washing. 

Tuesday —Washing and cleaning kitchen. 

Wednesday —Ironing, and arranging clothes to be mended. 
Thursday — Clean bed rooms and hall. Sew or mend. 

Friday —Clean sitting room, parlor and dining room. Bake 
bread. 

Saturday —Clean kitchen, lamps. Cooking. 

Most households consist of several departments. In 
this.there are two maids and a laundress once a week. 
The duties of the housemaid are: Every day (if win¬ 
ter), close ventilators, see that registers are open. Get 


SYSTEMS OF WORK 


189 


dining room ready for breakfast, taking out to kitchen 
dishes needing to be heated. If summer, open win¬ 
dows, arrange living room. Serve breakfast. Clear 
table, leaving dishes rinsed and prepared to be washed. 
The bed rooms, which have been left ready, bed 
clothes, airing and windows opened by occupants are 
put in order. Breakfast dishes washed. 

SCHEDULE 

Monday Morning —Two of the bedrooms are swept and 
“thorough cleaned.” 

Tuesday Morning —This maid irons the table line, small pieces, 
napkins, doileys from her own choice. 

Wednesday Morning —Bathroom and another bedroom 
“thorough cleaned.” 

Thursday —Silver cleaned., 

Friday —Drawing room. 

Saturday —Library and dining room and hall. 

‘‘Luncheon served at 1, dinner at 6. Each girl has 
every other evening. Each has an afternoon. We 
have dinner on Sunday at 1 130, after which both maids 
have the rest of the day and evening, only on extraor¬ 
dinary occasions being asked to return for any sup¬ 
per. Then if possible, each is asked in turn. The 
housemaid is responsible for keeping the china closets 
in order and her kitchen (in other houses it would be 
‘butler’s pantry.’) 

“The cook prepares three meals per day, breakfast 
at 7:45, luncheon at 1, dinner at 6 . She is responsible 
for the cleanliness and order of the kitchen, the ad¬ 
joining pantry and ice closet, the back porch and 
maid’s water closet. She assists tlie laundress with 


i yo 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


the ironing. She arranges her own time for her clean¬ 
ing, reserving Saturday for extra baking. The fur¬ 
nace man cares for the furnaces, sifting also ashes 
from range and cares for walks, shoveling snow in 
winter, cutting grass in summer, also works by hour 
at washing windows, beating rugs, etc." 

VALUE OF THE INDIVIDUAL HOME 

“The home is the center of all that is best in life. 
It is the greatest moulder of character. All the quali¬ 
ties of Christian manhood and womanhood, love, rev¬ 
erence, unselfishness, forbearance, order, regard for 
property and for the rights of others, should find their 
beginnings here. The strength of civic and natural 
life, respect for government, honest administration of 
public trusts, depend in large degree upon the high 
ideals of the home life. Family traditions are better 
fostered. The home is the housewife's 'place of busi¬ 
ness.’ 

“Whatever affects the home affects the state. The 
moral standing of a nation depends upon the home life 
of its individuals. We cannot get a true idea of the 
sacredness of life without having some place, however 
humble, where high standards of living g.overn the ac¬ 
tions of its individuals. We have poems that stir the 
emotions and quicken into activity the best interests 
on the subject of ‘Home,’ but what poet ever attempted 
to stir the hearts of a nation to heroic deeds by writ¬ 
ing a poem on the ‘Boarding House.’ ” 


PURCHASING 


191 


PURCHASING 

I lie question of the best always being the cheapest 
has been fully and ably discussed in the papers. Ex¬ 
cellent discriminations have been made. Strong - em- 
phasis has frequently been placed upon the fact that 
“the best for the purpose is always cheapest/’ This, 
as one points out, would not place a fine Brussels 
carpet in a little-used third floor room, while it might 
be the cheapest in library or living room. This modi¬ 
fication holds good in kitchen utensils and forbids the 
purchase of an aluminum basin where a tin one would 
serve the same purpose. 

One writes: “In buying meats as much nourish¬ 
ment and as palatable food, if well cooked, can be ob¬ 
tained from cheap cuts as from choice ones. In car¬ 
pets or rugs excellent wear and more service is se¬ 
cured from some not of the highest price. In linens 
the best requires too much care and if one considers 
also the cost of the care, are certainly not the cheapest. 
On the other hand, it pays to buy the best in many 
lines of groceries, for the best means the purest, least 
adulterated. 

‘‘In clothing the purpose must be kept in mind even 
more clearly. It pays to buy good material in wearing 
apparel—a dress of good material, zccll made , is an 
economical purchase. On the other hand, fine under¬ 
wear and very fine dress goods, while best of their 
kind, are not the cheapest for children's daily use. 


192 


11 o US Ell OLD MA NA GEMEN T 


Best does not always mean highest priced, for style 
may be a consideration in determining the price.” 

The conclusion is the only possible one to reach, is 
it not? Education in values and a careful considera¬ 
tion of the use of whatever is to be purchased must 
accompany each purchase. Necessary time and intelli¬ 
gent thoughtfulness must be given or a waste of 
money results. 

Ignorance of skillful methods of preparing meats 
necessitates more expensive cuts that require less skill 
in cooking. Just as truly the refusal on our part of 
time and thought necessary to weigh properly our 
other purchases enforces waste and extravagance 
through the purchase of either less durable than is 
needed, or too good articles for the use to be made 
of them. 

It is the business of the housekeeper to give this 
care and thought, and she is not giving all she owes to 
herself or her family if she fails to give it. The fail¬ 
ure deprives some division of the household budget 
of needed funds. 

One may learn much by observing closely the things 
which seem most worth having in the homes fre¬ 
quented. It has been suggested that our Women’s 
clubs might well have a department called the ex¬ 
change or information bureau where real bargains are 
displayed from time to time. This seems a valuable 
suggestion and an opportunity might also be afforded 
to compare a poor and a better quality of towels, rugs, 


THRIFT 


1 93 


china, new food preparations, soaps, etc. This would 
need to be in the hands of intelligent managers who 
would not give it over to mere advertising. Rightly 
managed it might be far-reaching in its helpfulness. 
Some clubs have attempted similar exhibits, as the re¬ 
vival of old industries, very profitably. The quality 
and reliability of the shopkeeper's wares in the vicinity 
will greatly improve under such critical selections. 

Some women who. haven't had time themselves to 
search for the best purchase have united and saved 
money by employing a woman as purchasing agent to 
shop for them. 

LACK OF THRIFT AND THE REMEDY 

One excellent paper enumerated the following evi¬ 
dences at the present time of lack of thrift and sug¬ 
gested the accompanying remedies: 

1. The provision of food which contains little nutri¬ 

ment or which is actually harmful. 

Remedy: Study food values and proper methods of 
preparation and practice self-restraint. 

2. An attempt to keep up with fashion, regardless 

of common sense. Any article bought for show 
rather than wearing qualities is extravagance. 

Remedy: Education in values. 

3. The spending of money, energy and time for 

amusement which is fleeting and unsatisfactory, 
adding nothing to one's welfare, but impoverish¬ 
ing financiallv, physically, mentally, morally. 


194 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Remedy: Elevate ideals. Have something worth 

while to live for. 

4. Those who are naturally generous give from im¬ 

pulse often, rather than systematically and 
wisely. 

Remedy: Investigate conditions and plan one's giving 
with the same desire to invest where the returns 
will be greatest that one would use in any other 
business. 

5. Neglectfulness or lavislmess in little ways—“bar¬ 

gains” when the articles are not needed, buying 
new rather than bothering to look up something 
in the house that would serve just as well. 
Wasting odds and ends that might be used ad¬ 
vantageously. 

Remedy: Greater thoughtfulness and care for littles. 

6. Failure to plan for saving a certain per cent of 

earnings and holding to it, each member of the 
family realizing the importance and regulating 
his expenditures accordingly. 

Remedy: Father should take each member into part¬ 
nership. Early training in proper care and ex¬ 
penditure of money goes far to correct bad ten¬ 
dencies in later life. 

Another suggests that if more would live rather 
than read about and discuss “the simple life,” these 
evils would be fewer. 

KITCHEN UTENSILS 

As all must realize in considering a list of desirable 
kitchen utensils, there is great variety of opinion. We 


KITCHEN UTINSILS 


195 


differ from others, of course, in our methods of work, 
in our tastes, in what we find conveniences, but it has 
been quite evident from the answers that there are 
many devices on the market which are of little or no 
use to anyone. We need to be on the watch against 
such, if we are easily tempted to think a thing may 
be labor-saving. 

It is impossible to shop in a city department store 
without being confronted by some “demonstrator” 
with her imperative assertion that “you can't get along 
without it!" I found myself in a little city in Maine 
recently, after ten weeks in a cottage far from the 
allurements of any store and was surprised at myself 
as I reflected how comfortably we had lived during 
those weeks with few utensils yet unconscious of press¬ 
ing needs. Lo! when once in sight of them, how soon 
1 thought of a long list of needs, from fly spatter to 
clam shovel! It is a safe rule, in general, to let the 
list be made up by the conscious need when in the 
work, not when in sight of the object in the store. 

Does all this seem much talk over very trifling ex¬ 
penditures? Recast the list on shopping days for a 
time and see in the end how many dollars have gone 
in a ten cents here, another there. We think over 
large sums. The littles slip lightly away. 

Out of the lists submitted, where would you place 
the following articles ? Among the real and profitable 
conveniences, or the unnecessary, too seldom used to 
repay the cost and care? 1, steam cooker; 2, meat 


IIO US HI l OLD MA A r A GEM BN T 


196 

grinder (useful also for nuts and erumbs) ; 3, meas¬ 
uring cups (glass, agate or tin) ; 4, egg beater (Do¬ 
ver) ; 5, sink strainer; 6, shovel and brush; 7, soap 
saver; 8, asbestos mats; 9, meat and bread boards; 10, 
Christy bread and cake knives; 11, French or vegeta¬ 
ble knives; 12, palate knife; 13, slate or pad and pen¬ 
cil for note of needs; 14, scales; 15, simple rings for 
poaching eggs; 16, mop wringer; 17, dish mop; 18, 
kitchen cabinet; 19, lid rail in pantry for covers; 20, 
set of plain bowls and plates for refrigerator use; 21, 
recipes arranged in card catalogue system, with nail 
for each adjusted slightly below level of eye over 
mixing board; 22, kitchen stool, adjustable in height; 
23, flour barrel cover with rim and handle; 24, slaw 
cutter; 25, egg separator; 26, raisin seeder; 27, cherry 
stoner; 28, apple corer (wasteful); 29, potato parer 
and sheer; 30, gem fillers; 31, bread mixer; 32, fancy 
molds (especially of tin) ; 33, iron kettles; 34, mayon¬ 
naise oil dropper ($1.50); 35, timbal iron; 36, egg 
poacher; 37, dish washing machines; 38, pie lifters; 
39, pastry jagger; 40, oyster broiler; 41, lamp cleaner; 
42, fire lighters, etc., ad infinitum. 

As one student has well said, “True economy is a 
generous provision of essentials; careful supervision 
of non-essentials, and self-control if the financial bud¬ 
get requires it.” 

DIRECTORY OF GOODS 

One systematic woman suggests a directory of goods 
which seems a valuable method of keeping a memo- 


DIRECTORY OE GOODS 


197 


randum of clothing packed away for summer or win¬ 
ter or for furnishings. 1 he boxes in which these are 
stored are marked A, B, C, D, or designated as trunk, 
wardrobe, and the like. A little time making out the 
list, which should be kept in the card catalogue or 
place that one may not forget, will save much time 
and annoyance when anything is needed. 

Hat boxes are labeled with the individual’s ini¬ 
tials, the hats contained being designated’ on the out¬ 
side. 

A correspondence list book or cards might be help¬ 
ful to one who sent many business letters. Express 
parcels could be entered in the same. 

A GOOD HOUSEKEEPER 

One paper asks me to define a “good housekeeper.” 
If we look at the necessarry qualifications as broadly 
as we should they will be not fewer than those which 
Solomon enumerates in Proverbs for the model woman 
(Chapter XXXI). She should certainly he one who 
“looketh well to the ways of her household,” whose 
“children rise up and call her blessed and her husband 
praiseth her.” There is much food for thought in the 
methods whereby both these things may be accom¬ 
plished. Too often the care of the house and the praise 
of the family get divorced. There isn’t one of us, I am 
confident, who hasn't seen the superlatively e well-kept' 
house. 

We experience something like this: “The door is 
opened by a maid in spotless garb, who ushers us into 


IIOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


198 

a dainty reception room. The shades are drawn to 
just the right place in order to give just the correct 
and subdued light, as well as to keep things from fad¬ 
ing. There are beautiful rugs on the polished floor, 
quantities of bric-a-brac on the mantel; the logs are 
carefully adjusted on the finely burnished andirons and 
beneath them a neatly swept hearth, the whole looking 
so clean that one can only speculate how a fire would 
look in that grate. Scattered about the room are gilt, 
chairs looking so dainty and frail that one is almost 
afraid to sit on them for fear of soiling or breaking 
them.” 

i\ person might go through the entire house, and find 
the same neatness everywhere, and still go away, feel¬ 
ing that it is not a real home, not a place of rest from 
business cares for the husband, not a place where the 
boy can bring his chum and feel sure “mother” will 
overlook muddy boots and untidy clothes. 

Is there anything more oppressive than such extreme 
effort for tidiness and order? Nothing drives men, es¬ 
pecially boys, from a home more quickly, and the secret 
of the loss of influence of home and mother with 
growing boys lies most frequently in such conditions. 
It is a pitiful pervertion of effort. 

On the other hand we all recognize as readily the 
destruction of happiness which results from lack of 
reasonable order and care of details. 

So the housekeeper sails between her Scvlla and 
Charybdis and skillful the one who avoids the rocks 


A GOOD HOGSUKREFER 


199 


and shoals. Yet it can be done. One must clearly 
sense what “order" really means. 

"To order a house well is simply to place things 
in a proper relation. We must always keep the fact 
in mind that the house was made for man; not man 
for the house. 

“The placing of things in their proper relation 
must extend to every portion and member of the 
household; otherwise though our house be in the most 
perfect order from garret to cellar unhappiness will 
reign among its members. There is much more dis¬ 
order when the mistress and maid are working at 
variance with each other, than there is in having a 
piece of furniture misplaced or the rooms unswept. 

“ft is much more indicative of poor housekeeping 
to have the children pale from lack of sunshine than to 
have every carpet in the house faded. It is much 
better management to have the table set with a sim¬ 
ple fare, with good wholesome and appetizing food, 
than to have an elaborately spread table. 

“If we have this adaptation of parts to each other 
our home life may be in a beautiful harmony—a trib¬ 
ute to God who has given us its possibilities, a bless¬ 
ing to the community, and an inspiration to every one 
who enters our doors. 

“Good housekeeping then does not consist in keep¬ 
ing a house in immaculate condition, but where order 
and neatness reigns, not for discomfort, but for com¬ 
fort of its inmates—where love and respect and good 


200 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


true living are its object, and where one can turn 
when adversities nearly overwhelm us, knowing that 
home is a haven of peace and rest.” 


SUPPLEMENTAL PROGRAM ARRANGED FOR 
CLASS STUDY ON 

HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 

P»y Bertha M. Terrill, A. B. 

MEETING I 

Place of Home and Home-maker in the Economic World. 

(Study pages 1-8.) 

1. Economic Function of Woman, Divine. ($0.15, postage 
2c.) 

Cost of Living, Ellen H. Richards. ($1.00, postage 10c.) 
Standards of Living, Chapters I and II. 

Household Expenditures, Chapter I. 

3. The Standard of Life, Bosanqliet. (1.50, out of print.) 

Chapter T. 

4. Household Economics, Helen Campbell. ($1.50, postage 

16c.) Household Industries, Chapter VII. 

5. See works on Political Economics on place of Consump¬ 

tion in discussion of Wealth. 

MEETING II 

(Study pages 9-41.) 

Division of Incomes. 

1. The Woman Who Spends, Bertha J. Richardson. ($1.00, 

postage 10c.) 

Chapters on Needs, Choices, Imitation versus Inde¬ 
pendence, Satisfaction, Responsibility. 

2. Cost of Living, Ellen H. Richards. ($1.00, postage 8c.) 
Housing, Chapter IV. 

Operating Expenses, Chapter V. 

Food, Chapter VI. 

Clothing. 

Higher Life. 

3. Cost of Shelter, Ellen H. Richards. ($1.00, postage 10c.) 

4. Cost of Food, Ellen Richards. ($1.00, postage 10c.) 

See articles on “Increase in Household Expenses.’ - Har¬ 
per’s Bazar, Sept.-Dec., 1906. 

201 


202 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


MEETING III 

(Study pages 42-6S.) 

(a) Household Accounts. 

(a) Value—Worth the time and effort? 

(b) Different Methods. 

(c) Discussion of Personal Choices. 

Reference—How to Keep Household Accounts, Haskell. 
($1.00, postage 10c.) 

(b) Banking. 

(a) Use to housewife; opinion of members. 

(b) Varieties of Banks. Local Banks. 

(c) How made most useful? 

Reference—How to Keep Household Accounts, Haskell. 
($1.00, postage 10c.) 

See article on Finance, by Dr. Campbell, in Cosmopolitan 
Magazine. 

(Select answers to test questions on Part I.) 

MEETING IV 

(Study pages 71-96.) 

(a) Organization in the Home. 

1. Household Economics, Chapter XTT. Campbell. 

2. Cost of Living, Chapter IX. Richards. ($1.00, postage 

10c.) 

3. Cosmopolitan Magazine—April, May and June, 1899. 

4. “The Eight Hour Day in Housekeeping.” American 

Kitchen Magazine, Article in January, February 
and March, 1902. 

See Supplement, pages 181-191. 

(b) Domestic Service. 

1. Domestic Service, Salmon. ($2.00, postage 18c.) 

2. Household Economics, Chapter XI, Campbell. ($1.50, 

postage 10c.) 


PROGRAM 


203 


MEETING V 

(Study pages 97-125.) 

Buying Supplies. 

(a) Bargains—real and fictitious. 

(b) Grades—best, the cheapest? 

(c) Comparison of Department and Specialty Stores. 

(d) Seasons for buying supplies. 

(e) Buying in quantity. 

(f) Local stores. 

(Select answers to test questions on Part II.) 

MEETING VI 

(Study pages 127-1G3.) 

Marketing. 

(a) Meats—Local cuts. 

(b) Vegetables. 

(c) Groceries. Get estimates in quantity from whole¬ 

sale store. 

(d) Comparison of local markets in sanitary conditions 

and practices, cold storage facilities, cuts of meat, 
prices, etc. 

Reference—Home Economics. Chapter on Marketing. Maria 
Parloa. ($1.50, postage 16c.) 

(Select answers to test questions on Part III.) 


CO-OPERATIVE HOUSEKEEPING 

TOPICAL OUTLINE ARRANGED FOR CLASS STUDY 

By Mrs. Mary Hinman Abel. 

Author Sanitary and Economic Cooking; Safe Food; U. S. 
Department of Agriculture Bulletins. 

Designed to Cover jour Meetings of to 2 Hours Each. 

The work for the entire time should be given out in advance. 
The following outline suggests reading for a typical class, 
say, of twelve persons; time required, one to three hours. 

FIRST MEETING 

j. The Principle of Co-operation as known to Political 
Science. See any good text book. 

2 . Co-operation Applied to Family Expenditure, as the 
Co-operative Store.—Holyoke’s History of the Rochedale 
Pioneers. Brief description of same in “House Beautiful,” 
March. 1903 , p. 270 . 

3 . The Store, Employment Office and Training School 
of the Vienna Haus Frauen Verein. “House Beautiful,” 
March, 1905 , pp. 279 - 81 . Mary Hinman Abel. “Harper’s 
Bazaar,” January, 1890 , M. H. Abel. 

SECOND MEETING 

4 . Co-operative Housekeeping. The Theory. 

5 . Five Articles by Melesina Fay Pierce. “Atlantic 
Monthly.” vol. 22 , pp. 513 and 652 . “Atlantic Monthly,” 
vol. 23 , pp. 29 , 161 and 286 . 

6 . Same topic.—Mrs. Livermore. “Chautauquan ** 1884 
(about). 

Same topic by Mrs. Starrett, “Forum,” August, 1889 . 




204 


CO- OPERA TIVE HO USEKEEPING 


205 


THIRD MEETING 

7 . Same topic, by Edward Bellamy, “Good House¬ 
keeping,” December, 21 , 1889 . 

In 1890 other articles appeared in the same magazine, 
based on the above. Also an account of the Roby experi¬ 
ment in Decatur, Illinois. They are all, in reality, co¬ 
operative Boarding. 

“Improved Dwelling Houses,” L. E. Ladd. “Scientific 
American,” August 2 , 1890 . 

8 . Report on actual experiments. It is hoped that the 
class may gather together on this subject in the form of clip¬ 
pings, letters, or references. One member should be detailed 
for this work. Poole’s Index might be searched and files of 
magazines. . The most interesting account is unfortunately 
not to be obtained — that given by Mrs. Pierce of the attempt 
in Cambridge, Mass., made two years after the appearance 
of her articles in the “Atlantic Monthly.” It was pub¬ 
lished by Tichnor and Company, 1884 , but is out of print. 

9 . Co-operative Boarding Clubs. 

10 . The delivery of hot meals now being carried on in 
several places as a business enterprise. Note that the co¬ 
operation in this case is only of a social character, the patrons 
being well-wishers. This feature, however, is sufficient to 
distinguish it from ordinary business, as it insures a fair 
trial, high standards, and saves the cost of advertising. Has 
it the elements of permanent success? 

FOURTH MEETING 

11 . Review of the theory and experiments up to date. 
“House Beautiful,” April, 1903 , pp. 363 - 6 . 

12 . One or more members should have been working up 
the arguments for and against Co-operative Housekeeping 
into the form of a discussion. This, with the above, should 
occupy the fourth meeting and should result in a careful 


206 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


statement of the requirements to be met by any body of 
women who may attempt co-operative housekeeping with 
hope of success. A report of this meeting should be written 
out in full and carefully preserved. Women discussing these 
subjects should contribute for the benefit of others some¬ 
thing in the way of facts, arrangement, opinion, or sug¬ 
gestion. 

These meetings are supposed to be conducted on the usual 
plan, each person giving a resume or report (not written) of 
assigned work, followed by questions and discussion. 


INDEX 


Account, bank, 60 
overdrawing, 64 
Accounts, 42, 169 
balancing. 50 
card system, 46 
credit, 48 

envelope method, 44 
itemized, 47 
systems in, 44 
table of, 50 
terms of, 47 
weekly 50 
Adaptability, 75 
Adaptation to conditions, 11 
Adulterations, 162 
Advance purchasing, 101 
Advantages of domestic ser¬ 
vice, 79 

of owning home, 22 
A itch bone, use of, 139 
Allowance for higher life, 37 
personal 68 
Animal products, 157 
Apartment life, domestic ser¬ 
vice in, 91 
Bacon, 150 
Balance sheet, 51 
Bank account, 60 

account bookkeeping, 67 
aid to housewife, 65 
Bargains, legitimate, 97 
Bed linen, 116 

room furnishing, cost of, 

1 1 o 

Beef, corned, 142 
fore quarter, 134 
heart, 142 
hind quarter, 137 
quality of, 129 


Beef, ribs of, 135 
steak, cuts of, 138 
table of cuts of, 145 
Bibliography, 163 
Bob veal, 146 
Braising cuts ot beef, 142 
Brisket, use of, 137 
Brussels carpet, 122 
Budgets, ideal, 19 
typical, 17 
Building, cost of, 25 
Business principles in home¬ 
making, 8 

side of home-making, 4 
Butter, 159 

Buying in quantities, 97, 161 
supplies, 97-126 
Card index system, 52 
Carpets, Brussels, 122 
grades of, 122 
ingrain, 122 
kinds of, 123 
re-made, 126 
tapestry, 122 
Carving, 132 
Chairs, kitchen, 113 
Chart, composition of food, 35 
division of income, 20 
pecuniary economy of food, 

35 

Cheap cuts of beef, 141 
Checks, 62 
Chuck, use of, 135 
Classification of expenses, 58 
value of, 13 
Clothing, 36 
Color of beef, 130 
Consumption, definition of, x 
Corned beef, 142 


207 



208 


HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT 


Cost for service, 28 
of building, 25 
of food, 31 

Cotton cloth, brands of, 116 
cloth, price of, 11 7 
Cutting up beef, 133 
Cuts in side of beef, 133 
of beef steak, 138 
of mutton, 149 
of pork, 150 
of roasts of beef, 127 
of veal, 147 
Daily outlines, 86 
Damask, 118 
Department stores, 103 
Depositing in bank, 61 
Differing opinions, 167 
Dining room furnishing, cost 

Of, I Of' 

Directory of goods, 197 
Disadvantages of buying home 
22 

of domestic service, 80 
Division of household expen¬ 
ditures, 21 
of income, 169 
of income chart, 20 
of income, theoretical, 15 
of labor, 71, 75 
Division in economics, 1 
Domestic service, 77-96 
advantages of, 79 
cost of, 28 
disadvantages of, 80 
notes on, 181 
objection to, 82 
solution of problem, 94 
Dress, 37 

Economic position of woman 
3 

Economics, divisions in, 1 
Economics, extreme, 9 
Economy, aims of, 2 
true, 9 

Education, of home-mak^r, 6 


Eggs, i59 

preserving, 160 
testing, 160 

Employment agencies, 94 
Envelope method of accounts, 
44 

Essentials, 23 

Established standards of work, 
_ 8 9 

Estimate of kitchen utensils, 
106 

Estimation of values, 6 
Expenditure for clothing,.36 
Expenditures, classification of 

. I4 . 

division of household, 21 
home, 9 
legitimate, 23 
record of, 14 

Expense of help by hour, 90 
Expenses, operating, 26 
Experiences of students with 
the servant problem, 182 
Extravagance, 18 
Fillet of beef, 138 
Financially organized familv, 
68 

Fish for baking, 154 
for boiling, 154 
kinds of, 153 
local varieties of, 154 
season of, 155 
selecting, 153 
shell, 155 
Flank, use of, 140 
Food, 30 

aesthetic demands for, 33 
cost per person, 31 
economy, 175 
proper, 30 

waste of money in, 31 
Foods, chart of composition 
of, 34 

Fore quarter of beef, 134 
Get-rich-quick schemes, 41 


INDEX 


209 


Good housekeeper, definition 
of, 198 

taste in dress, 37 
Groceries, brand of, 162 
dry, 161 
Haddock, 153 
Health, value of, 72 
Help by the hour, 90, 184 
High cost of food, 32 
Higher life, 3 7 

life, allowance for, 3 7 
Hind, quarter of beef, 137 
Home, advantages of owning, 
22 

consumption in, 1 
expenditures, 9, 41 
sanctity of, 93 

Home-maker, education of, 6 
Home-making, business side 
. °f. 4 

’ right spirit in, 8 
Hour work, 29, 90, 184 
Household accounts, 42, 169 
Household Aid Society, 96 
Household expenses, classifi¬ 
cation of, 58 
manager expert, 163 
Housekeeper, good, 198 
Housekeeping, a profession, 5 
on business-like basis, 7 
Housewife, tests of, 26 
Housework helper, wages of, 
28 

Ideals, realizing, 38 
Ignorance of servants, "83 
Immigrant help, 78 
Income, division of, 15, 169 
regular, 15 

Indorsement of checks, 62 
Industrial changes, 78 
Influence of immigration on 
domestic service, 78 
Ingrain carpet, grades of, 122 
Initiative in the home, 5 
Insurance, Life, 40 


Intentions, good, 12 
Investments, divisions for, 59 
wise, 39 

Iron cooking utensils, 113 
Irresponsibility of servants, 83 
Kensington squares, cost of, 
126 

Kidneys, beef, 143 
Kitchen cabinet, 112 
chairs, 113 
floor covering, no 
furnishings, no 
stove, no 
tables, 113 
utensils, 105, 195 
Labor, division of, 71 
organization of, 71 
Lack of thrift, 193. 

Lamb, 148 
chops, 149 

Laundries, establishment of, 
93 

Laundry equipment, cost of 
108 

work, 168 

Laws of expenditure, Dr. En¬ 
gel’s, 19 

Ledger, use of, 48 
Legitimate bargains, 97 
Life insurance, 40 
Life, standards of, 10. 

Linen, bed, 116 
table, 114 
Liver, beef, 142 
Living, style of, 13 
Location of cuts of beef, 133 
Marketing, 127 

Materials of kitchen utensils, 
111 

Meats, supply of, 128 
Menus, 173 
Milk, j59 

supply, source of, 169 
Money, use of, 4 
Monthly budgets, 170 


210 


HO USEHOLD MA NA CEMENT 


Muscle arrangement of beef, 

131 

Mutton, 148 
cuts of, 149 
Napkins, 121 
Neck, use of, 135 
Needs versus wants, 11 
Objections to domestic service, 
82 

Operating expenses, 26 
Order in housework, 71 
Ordering, time for, 128 
Organizations of household, 
requisites for, 72 
of labor, 71 
Orental rugs, 126 
Perishable supplies, 101 
Personal expenses, classifica¬ 
tion of, 58 
freedom of maid, 87 
Planning daily work, 74 
Pork, 150 

Poultry, care in selecting, 151 
methods of plucking, 152 
tests for, 152 

Production, definition of, 1 
Profession of house-keeping, 5 
Promotion for helper, 81 
Purchasing, 191 
Railroad securities, 40 
Real estate loans, 41 
Regular income, 15 
Remnants, value of, 102 
Rent, 21 
Rental, 25 

Reorganization of the home, 
88 

Rib roasts, 136 
Ribs of beef, 135 
use of, 135 
Roasts, small. 140 
Round, use of, 139 
Routine, 74 
Rugs, 125 
kinds of, 116 


Rump, use of, T39 
Rural help, 78 
Safe interest, 41 
Sausages, 151 
Saving, percentage in, 162 
ways of, 39 
Schedule of work, 189 
Securities, railroad, 40 
Selecting beef, 130 
Self-control, necessity for, 73 
Servant problem, experiences 
of students with, 182 
Servants, ignorance of, S3 
irresponsibility of, 83 
Service, domestic, 77 
Shank, use of, 140 
Sheeting, kinds of, 116 
Sheets, size of, 116 
Shin, the, 137 
Silence cloth, 121 
Sirloin, location of, 138 
Small wastes, 29 
Smyrna rugs, 126 
Specialty stores, 103 
Standards, differing, 1 2 
of life, 10 

of quality of goods, 101 
of work, established, S£. 89 
Steaks, selection of, 141 
Stews, cut for, 142 
Sticking piece, location of, 136 
Storage, 98, 161 
requirements, 100 
Stubs of check-book, 64 
Style of living, 13 
Supplies, buying, 97 
lists of, 104 
perishable, 10 r 
Sweetbreads, 144 
Systems of accounts, 44 
of work, 188 
Table linen, 114 
examples of, 119 
grades of, 11 7 
kinds of, 1x8 


INDEX 


211 


Table linen, price of, 121 
size of, 121 

Table of cuts of beef, 145 
Tables, kitchen, 113 
Tapestry carpet, 122 
Telephone, use for buying, 127 
Tenderloin, 138 
Tests for poultry, 152 
Theoretical division of income, 

15 

Thrift, lack of, 193 
Tongue, beef, 143 
Tripe, 144 
Use of money, 4 
Utensils, aluminum, hi 
buying, 102 

estimate of kitchen, 104 
iron, 113 
kitchen, 105, 195 
materials of kitchen, no 
Value of classification, 13 
of individual home, iqo 
Values, estimation of, 6 


Values, real, 16 
Veal bob, 146 
cuts of, 147 
season of, 146 
Vegetables, prices of, 157 
quantity for serving, 158 
season of, 156 
selecting, 158 
Vouchers, 66 
Wage of helper, 28 
Wages of domestic helper, 81 
Waste of money in food, 31 
sources of, 32 
Wastes, small, 29 
Wealth expender, office of, 3 
Weight of beef, 134 
Wooden ware, in 
Work by hour, 29, 89, 184 
schedule of, 189 
standards of, 89 
Worry, harm of, 27 
Written directions for ser¬ 
vants. 86 


Household Accounts 


The following are sample pages from the Household Account Book published 
by the American School of Home Economics, Cloth bound, 

64 pages; price, postpaid, 50 cents. 



HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTS 


DATE 

19 

ITEMS 

i 

RECEIVED 

PAID OUT 

DAI LX 
TOTAL 




















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DIVISION OF EXPENDITURES 



FOOD 

RENT 

CARFARE 

OPERATING 

EXPENSES 

CLOTHING 

HIGHER 

LIFE 























































































































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COMPLETE COURSE IN HOME ECONOMICS 

This course covers, systematically, in an interesting and practical way, the new 
“Profession of Home-making” and “Art of Right Living.” It is divided into forty 
lesson pamphlets of fifty to one hundred pages each. 


REGULAR ORDER IN WHICH 

FOOD SUBJECTS 
(1) Chemistry of the Household 
Parts I, II, III. 

(3) Principles of Cookery 
Parts I, II, III, IV. 

(5) Food and Dietetics 

Parts I, II, III, IV. 

(7) Household Management 
Parts I, II, III, IV. 

HOUSEHOLD ART 

(9) The House—Its Plan, Deco¬ 
ration and Care, I, II, III. 

(10) Textiles and Clothing 
Parts I, II, III. 


THE LESSONS ARE TAKEN 

HEALTH SUBJECTS 

(3) Household Bacteriology 

Parts I, II, III. 

(4) Household Hygiene 

Parts I, II, HI. 

(6) Personal Hygiene 

Parts I, II, III, IV. 

(8) Home Care of the Sick 
Parts I, II, III. 

CHILDREN 

(11) Care of Children 
Parts I, II, III. 

(13) Study of Child Life 
Parts I, II, HI. 


PARTIAL LIST OF INSTRUCTORS 


ISABEL BEVIER, Ph. M. 

Professor of Household Science, 
University of Illinois 
S. MARIA ELLIOTT 

Instructor in Home Economics, 
Simmons College, Boston 
BERTHA M. TERRILL, A. M. 
Professor of Home Economics, 
University of Vermont 
KATE HEINZ WATSON 

Formerly Instructor Lewis Insti¬ 
tute, Chicago 

MARGARET E. DODD, S. B. 

Graduate Mass. Inst, of Technology 
ANNA BARROWS 

Teacher of Cookery, Columbia 
University: Director Chautauqua 
School of Cookery 


ALFRED C. COTTON, A. M., M. D. 
Professor Diseases of Children, 
Rush Medical College, University 
of Chicago 

ALICE PELOUBET NORTON,M.A. 
Assistant Professor of Home Eco¬ 
nomics, University of Chicago 
MARION FOSTER WASHBURNE 
Editor of “The Mothers’ Magazine’’ 
AMY ELIZABETH POPE 

Instructor in Nursing, Presby¬ 
terian Hospital, N. Y. City 
CHARLOTTE M. GIBBS, A. B. 
Director of Household Art, Uni¬ 
versity of Illinois 
MAURICE Le BOSQUET, S. B. 
Director American School of Home 
Economics, Chicago 


BOARD OF TRUSTEES 


Mrs. A. COURTENAY NEVILLE 
President of the Board; First Chair¬ 
man Home Economics Committee, 
G. F. W. C. 

Mrs. ELLEN M. HENROTIN 

Organizer and Honorary President 
General Federation Women’s Clubs 
Mrs. FREDERIC W. SCHOFF 
President National Congress of 
Mothers 

Mrs. LINDA HULL LARNED 
Past President National Household 
Economics Association 
Miss ALICE RAVENHILL 

Commissioner of the British Gov¬ 
ernment on Domestic Science in 
the United States 


Mrs. MARY HINMAN ABEL 

Editor “Journal of Home Eco¬ 
nomics” ; Author U. S. Government 
Bulletins 

Miss MARIA PARLOA 

Founder of the Original Cooking 
School in Boston; Author, etc. 

Mrs. J. A. KIMBERLY 

Vice-President of National House¬ 
hold Economics Association 

Mrs. JOHN HOODLESS 

Government Supt. of Domestic 
Science of the Province of Ontario 

Mrs. WALTER McNAB MILLER 
Chairman of the Food-Sanitation 
Committee, G. F. W. C. 













One copy del. to Cat. Div. 




































































